OUR HISTORY

Women’s Prison Book Project was founded in 1994 by several activists in Minneapolis who wanted to make their political action more concrete and effective. One of them had worked with a prison book program in Boston and noticed that women who were incarcerated had specific requests that the book program was not equipped to fill. They decided to start a prison book program that would address the specific needs of women and other people of marginalized gender identities. 

They sent letters to several women who were incarcerated informing them about the project and asking them to distribute information to others in their facilities. News of the project spread largely by word of mouth, information began to appear in resource guides, and soon the project began to receive letters from prisoners all over the country requesting books. Today, WPBP receives approximately hundreds of letters per month, and sends out approximately 500 packages every month to women, trans, and nonbinary people in prisons across the country. 

We have deep roots in South Minneapolis. We were originally located in private homes and in a room at North Country Co-op before moving to Arise! bookstore, Boneshaker Books, and then Southside Commons. We most recently settled into the Center for Belonging and hope to be here for some time to come! 

In addition to sending books to incarcerated readers , WPBP also works to build community and educate the public about the prison industrial complex and its impact on people of marginalized gender identities. Throughout its history, WPBP volunteers have organized film showings, spoken at conferences, places of worship, and community events.WPBP has also held service learning projects for youth groups, college classes and other organizations.

OUR VALUES

We do this work because we love books. Whether a book is educational, empowering, or escapist, we think books are essential, and everyone should have access to them. But we also have certain values and beliefs guiding our project that are central to how we show up in this work. 

We believe in freedom. The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and women are one of the fastest growing segments of the prison population. Trans women of color are particularly over policed, over prosecuted, and over incarcerated. But we also know that prisons have not always existed, and we believe in a world beyond mass incarceration. We hope one day our book project will not have to exist, because prisons will no longer exist. 

We believe in support. Due to fluctuations in funding and inconsistencies in terms of access to prison educational programs, libraries, drug and alcohol treatment programs, parenting programs, and higher education programs, people in prison have limited resources available to them. That is one reason that prison book projects like ours exist.

We believe in connection. By sending books specifically selected for each person who requests a book from us, we build a personal connection with the people who receive our books. We think this is important for people in prison, and for the volunteers on the outside. 

We believe in autonomy. People in prison have very few choices available to them, and WPBP is one of the few places they can say exactly what they want to read, and we can try to find it. Because of the way we do our work, we see ourselves as acting in solidarity with people in prison, as opposed to doing charity. We see our role as providing access to resources and information, not telling women in prison what to do or what to think.

We believe in interdependence.,WPBP is deeply connected to the people we send books to, as well as the work of many other local and national groups who address issues related to prisons, prisoner’s rights, and the struggle for justice.

We believe in shared power. The Women’s Prison Book Project is an all-volunteer organization.  There are no paid staff members.  The project relies on the energy and commitment of the many volunteers who work at mailings, collect book donations, organize fundraisers, and run events.

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