- June 13, 2024
- Posted by: LWB
- Category: News
Volunteers collecting books for the Luzerne County Correctional Facility have amassed more than 1,300 as they make a final push for donations. At the same time, another volunteer is trying to restore a book-lending program at the Lackawanna County Prison.
Jim Wilber, the head of Luzerne County correctional services, welcomes the book collection by Leadership Northeast, a nonprofit civic volunteer program.
“It’s a good plan,” Wilber said. The facility has accepted hundreds of books already. It is one way inmates can make positive use of their time, he said. The facility’s previous supply of books was worn out.
The group of Leadership Northeast participants call their project New Books on the Block. The collection ends April 24. In addition to what they have collected so far, an unknown number of books await pickup in donation boxes at several locations.
Linda Loop, founder and CEO of Dress for Success Luzerne County, asked Leadership Northeast for help. She volunteers at the prison and was already putting time and money into books.
There is an overlap between incarceration and poor literacy. Nationally, about 70% of incarcerated adults cannot read above a fourth grade level, according to the National Adult Literacy Survey.
“It is a project that involves a population that is oftentimes pushed to the side,” said New Books on the Block volunteer Joshua Perry. “And when you talk about a community benefit, it is one of those things that could have an immediate impact … although it seems minimal, it really can have a huge impact on an individual’s life.”
Security concerns
In Lackawanna County, the prison stopped volunteers from bringing in books sometime around early 2020, citing security concerns.
Beverly deBarros, who advocates for prisoners, said volunteers built up a collection of around 1,000 books that were lent out around 20,000 times through 2017 to 2019. “Every book we brought in there was inspected by a guard,” and available for free, she said.
With some exceptions, much of the reading material available to Lackawanna County inmates is available in electronic, not printed form. That’s because books could be used to hide drugs, weapons and messages, Lackawanna County Deputy Warden of Operations Colleen Orzel said by email. Paperback books could also be used as weapons or fashioned into body armor, Orzel said.
Judge Jim Gibbons, chair of the prison board, said by email that “the security needs of the Prison take priority.”
“The concerns about books brought in by volunteers are valid concerns,” he said. “Not about the volunteers themselves, necessarily, but the books. The visual inspections performed at the Prison are not always capable of detecting additives. While the Board remains open to policy modifications as a general matter, I hesitate to predict what may or may not happen in the absence of a specific proposal.”
The county provides printed copies of self-help books and puzzle books, according to Orzel, and inmates’ families can buy paperback books for them directly from publishers.
According to Orzel, inmates have access to electronic tablets, by request, for up to five hours a day for free, with enough tablets for each inmate. Afterward, there are charges that vary depending on what the tablet is used for. The county receives 20% of gross revenue from the tablets.
Lackawanna County provided lengthy spreadsheets of materials available on the tablets. They are heavy on educational, self-help and religious subjects, classic authors, such as William Shakespeare, and writings by historical figures, such as Marcus Aurelius.
Seeking new and used books
The Leadership Northeast group is looking for fiction and nonfiction paperbacks in good condition. Comic-book style graphic novels are not being collected. New and used paperback books can be donated at collection boxes at the Pittston Memorial Library, Plymouth Public Library, any Northeast Pennsylvania location of FNCB Bank; O’Donnell Law Offices, Kingston; Abide Coffeehouse, Wilkes-Barre; Leadership Northeast, Wilkes-Barre; The Hive Salon Collective, Pittston; Vital Source Acupuncture and Wellness/The Palm House Massage & Wellness, Kingston and III Guys Restaurant & Sports Bar, Edwardsville.
New books can be sent directly to the group from an Amazon wish list.
The list includes books in Spanish and current and recent bestsellers such as the fantasy series “A Court of Thorns and Roses,” by Sarah J. Maas, “The Women” by Kristin Hannah and “Forgiving What You Can’t Forget: Discover How to Move On, Make Peace with Painful Memories, and Create a Life That’s Beautiful Again,” by Lysa TerKeurst. The “Harry Potter” and “Percy Jackson” series and mysteries such as James Patterson’s “Alex Cross” series are sought after, Loop said.
Money can be sent by checks made out to Leadership Northeast, with New Books on the Block written on the memo line. The address is 4 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18701.
Volunteer Renee Shrader said inmates, like everyone else, benefit from reading for fun. “If you are in a stressful environment, it is so relaxing and it just calms you. So I think it is really important to have access to good reading material that is for enjoyment and not just education.”
Loop said inmates tell her how much they appreciate the books. Loop cited a letter from a woman who said she had read three books in 2½ months. The books were “Cemetery Girl,” by David Bell; “ The Orphan Collector: A Heroic Novel of Survival During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic” by Ellen Marie Wiseman and “Kiss the Girls,” by James Patterson. In the letter, the inmate wrote that she appreciated something to do with her time, but the books meant more than that. “The common theme in these books is family reuniting, and I’ve realized it is time to reunite with mine,” the woman wrote.