Books Through Bars, a local nonprofit, send free books to individuals who are incarcerated throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.
The goal is to help educate these individuals, which in turn could reduce recidivism, writes Violet Comber-Wilen for Billy Penn at WHYY.
According to a 2013 Rand Corporation study, education is one of the major factors in lowering recidivism rates and can be the difference between starting a new life after being released or reverting back to old habits.
Dr. Tom Haney, president of Books Through Bars, noted that books have a similar effect.
“Education is one of the major problems for people who are incarcerated.” he said. “And as all the results and studies have shown, while a person is incarcerated, if they can educate themselves, they will come out and do far better on the streets than they did previously.”
Mark Loughney, who was previously incarcerated, credits the nonprofit for serving as a lifeline not only for his education, but for his mental health.
While many prisons have libraries, many prisoners say the facilities are “inadequate and inaccessible.”
Books Through Bars allows them to put in requests regarding books they’d like to obtain.
Read more about Books Through Bars and how it promotes education and recidivism reduction at Billy Penn at WHYY.
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