Inside Books Project is an Austin-based community service volunteer organization that sends free reading materials to people incarcerated in Texas, and also publishes resource guides and short-form instructional pamphlets. Inside Books is the only books-to-prisoners program in Texas, where more than 120,000 people are behind bars. Inside Books Project works to promote reading, literacy, and education among incarcerated individuals and to educate the general public on issues of incarceration.
What
Each year, Inside Books Project sends more than 30,000 free books to people in Texas prisons.
Inside Books Project also publishes Resource Guides, How-To Guides, and the IBP Newsletter.
Inside Books Project runs a bookstore to sell high-value donated books, using the profits to buy more frequently requested books, like dictionaries. Support our bookstore here.
Why
We believe that everyone in prison has the right to quality reading and educational materials, and that reading, learning, and self-expression are invaluable opportunities that are too often denied to the incarcerated. In Texas, cuts to prison education programs and libraries continue to highlight the emphasis on punishment over rehabilitation. The benefits of literacy in people’s post-incarceration lives are well-documented, and evidence points to a beneficial relationship between supplemental reading and increased literacy.
How
We rely upon our volunteers and community to donate their time, books, and money. We hold two volunteer sessions a week where volunteers read letters and requests, select books, write responses, and create packages. Core volunteers solicit book donations, send packages, pick up donated books, staff volunteer nights, publish our resource and how-to guides, run our bookstore, and plan fundraising events.
In addition, 12th Street Books has supported Inside Books Project for twenty years.
Here's how you can get involved:
Volunteer
Volunteers are given letters from incarcerated people requesting books, and then work to select books to best fit the request. The selected books are then sent back to the prison in a package and become the personal property of the recipient.
Donate Funds
Inside Books Project has sent over a quarter million free books to incarcerated people in Texas, funded entirely by donations from our community. Inside Books Project has no paid staff - all donations go directly to support our mission.
Donate funds to Inside Books Project >
Donate Books
Give your gently used books a second life by donating them to Inside Books Project. Incarcerated people request specific books and educational material and volunteers match those requests with books donated from our community.
History:
From it’s inception, Inside Books has always been a community-focused and volunteer-run organization.
1998: Founded
2004: Voted “Best Volunteer Organization” in Austin Chronicle
2012: Obtained 501(c)(3) nonprofit status
2019: Moved into Vesper