Fourth Annual "Great American Book Drive" Benefits Prison Book Program

Quincy, Mass. - The Prison Book Program is a non-profit, all volunteer organization based in Quincy that distributes paper back books to people in prisons in Massachusetts and throughout the United States.

The most sought after types of books by prisoners include dictionaries and history texts. On Saturday, November 6, 2010, at the Non-Profit Center near South Station in Boston, the group is holding its fourth annual “Great American Book Drive” to collect donated books for the program.

Recently, Dave Goodman spoke with the Prison Book Program’s Director, Pam Boiros, who says folks can help this cause in three ways:

OMB Audio Excerpt from interview with Pam Boiros, Prison Book Program, November 3, 2010 (5:40)

The following is a longer excerpt from the recorded conversation with Pam Boiros. Among the topics covered, she discusses the challenges of distributing books to prisons in various states; many of which have very different rules regarding what convicts can read. Also, the role of books (and literacy) in the effort to slow rates of recidivism.

OMB Audio Pam Boiros...longer interview segment (17:11)

Web Resources

http://www.prisonbookprogram.org
http://www.prisonbookprogram.org/bookdrive/