why books, why prisoners.

Who measures the quantity of guilt in a person's soul? Who measures the growth of their awareness, and how is this awareness fostered or achieved?

in the desert of prison, the drought of encouragement is sufficient to dry up a human mind, to sap it of hope. If we leave human souls in barbaric conditions, they only learn how to further be barbarians. If however, they reach out to us with kindness and the intention to better themselves, and we reach back, we can fill that gap with a rushing tide of truth, with opportunity, with graciousness.


We obviously assume something is wrong with their cognitive abilities, their social philosophy and their personal philosophy. Now, to remedy that, if they seek to expand what they know, to rethink and reevaluate how they make decisions and weigh their morality, then we ought to support that. As humans to other humans, we have all felt like prisoners at some point, trapped in some way. But perhaps someone was there to shed some light for us, someone was there to give us another try, to lessen the darkness and despair.

Society gets its vengeance. They rot in solitude and fearsome violence. Sending them books does not lessen their punishment. It just offers them a transformation, a rehabiliation, a way to reclaim their humanity, to have dignity even in their shame, their earned shame.

People go to prison for all sorts of crimes. In this country, if you are poor and minority, you can face serious time in a serious joint for an unserious crime. Some inmates deserve our rebuke, and perhaps this retribution. Yet others perhaps do not deserve to share the same conditions as the worser commitants. And yet they are. These are those I imagine who are starving for the window we provide. Not all prisoners are the same, just as not all humans are the same.

And if there is someone who is kept from knowledge who thirsts for it, I am shaken to treat this injustice. We can all endure suffering, especially that which is earned. But knowledge and the opportunity to overcome our shortcomings and learn from our behavoir ought not to be denied anyone.

Self worth is usually the lacking common denominator in the psychology of criminals and prisoners, before during and afer they have committed crime. These feelings are only going to be further driven into their psyche the longer they stay in prison. People who do not value themselves, do not feel vital to society will have few qualms with breaking society's rules. However, if they can be inspired by society's ideals, its possibilities and the values it esteems for the potential of individuals, then they will seek to make themselves worthy of this society. This inspiration can only be attained through the sharing of cultural wisdom, and that wisdom is consecrated and carried in books.

It is in the themes of our best novels. It is in the histories, the religious literature, the sociology texts. THis wisdom is the freedom that their soul desires, that they were not able to attain even when they were not kept within walls and behind bars. Even when they roamed the streets and lived in the houses as our neighbors they could not find it. Here, now, they have the time and the perspective and the desire to reach for it.

This is what we respond to, this is what we aspire to with this program. Humans to humans, souls to souls, despite the atrocities we commit against each other, we can still teach them kindness by giving them hope, we can teach them generosity by giving them our time and our books. Or we can leave all those lessons out and leave them to remain in the darkness, rotting as barbarians, their only plots and lessons taught by the coldness and brutality of their "home."

We think we fear them, but perhaps we ought not to fear the potential within ourselves.