Prison Books Collective

Prison Books Collective is a Carrboro & Durham-based nonprofit that sends hundreds of books & zines to people in NC & AL prisons each month. Founded in 2006.

[Prison Books Collective @NCPrisonBooks]

WHAT CAN YOU DO? 1) Share news and actions on the #FreeTheMail tag. 2) If you have opinions, consider contacting Commissioner of Prisons [email protected] or the NC DPS mailbox (4201 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-4201). 3) Follow us for updates! /fin

[Prison Books Collective @NCPrisonBooks]

Let's get into this. 1/9
Monday, NC adopted a new prison mail policy: #scanandshred. All letters, cards, art, photos -- they'll be sent to MARYLAND, scanned, surveiled, and shredded*. Link: https://t.co/4BpIku2J4p
*Unless senders pay $2.50 to get it back.
#ncprisons #freethemail

[Prison Books Collective @NCPrisonBooks]

We at Prison Books are also concerned this digitization will eventually reach #bookstoprisoners to stop our operations; TextBehind has a function for books, and when digitization happened in PA, books were initially included (taken out later; but letters are still digitized). 8/9

[Biff Hollingsworth @_biff_h]

On Oct. 18, a new policy goes into effect that significantly impacts information access for all 28k people incarcerated in the state prison system in NC.

NC has contracted out mail processing to a facility in Maryland, monetizing mail and increasing surveillance.

[🦇ashton🕸 @graveyardpansy]

i haven’t seen ppl talking about this on twitter yet, but as of today, NC prisons are no longer allowing incarcerated ppl to receive mail.
🧵

[Scalawag @scalawagmag]

This week, North Carolina prisons stopped allowing incarcerated people to receive physical mail.

Instead, they're moving to a digital process, claiming it will reduce the volume of drugs inside prisons.

🧵 A thread on why that's some bullshit 1/10:

[Scalawag @scalawagmag]

Want to make sure any handwritten letters or kids' art doesn't get shredded? That'll cost extra.

Want to get the physical mail you sent back? That costs, too.

(Slide via @NCPrisonBooks' Instagram, which you should go follow.) 3/11

[Prison Books Collective @NCPrisonBooks]

When you receive an email about a requested book, you may choose to help fulfill the request by purchasing the book. However, there is no obligation to do so - you will only be signing up to receive the emails, and can help us fulfill as many or as few requests as you would like!

[Prison Books Collective @NCPrisonBooks]

We do our best to fulfill the requests we receive from the incarcerated, but sometimes we just don’t have the right book in our stock for the request. We would love your help in cases like these!

https://t.co/ATNvXK0Sev

[Prison Books Collective @NCPrisonBooks]

If you’re interested in getting emails about requests from incarcerated folks that we are unable to fill, visit our link above and fill out our “Book Patron Sign Up Form” - you can select what categories you’re interested in receiving emails about.

[Prison Books Collective @NCPrisonBooks]

Check out the @dailytarheel piece on PBC and @ncwomenspbooks!

These local nonprofits bring books to incarcerated individuals in North Carolina https://t.co/7Myh6gVfkh

[Books to Prisoners (Seattle) @B2PSeattle]

@PGHBookEm @BtBsNYC @prisonlegalnews @FedCURE @FAMMFoundation @AppalachianPBP @ncwomenspbooks @NationInside @BooksPrison @btbphilly @theCCR @paulwrightHRDC On Facebook, we suggested contacting FCI Manchester directly to protest the publisher ban (if there's better info available, let us know--this was pulled from the BOP site):

Email: [email protected]
Phone: [phone]

[NYC Books Through Bars @BtBsNYC]

Hey, @prisonlegalnews, Have you heard the news about FCI Manchester's new plan to only allow people to order from a BOP-chosen book catalog? This is bad news. If prisoner 'circumvents' this policy, they get on restricted mail list for 12 months!