One awesome way you should celebrate is by buying books from our wishlist; bookshop.org/wishlists/60...
All donations are matched so your impact is doubled, this week only! Help us send books to people in prisons!
This year, we are excited to partner with The Head & the Hand, Brickbat Books, Bindlestiff Books, Capricorn Books, Giovanni's Room, & the DuBois-Robeson People’s Center! Support both us and these awesome bookstores for independent bookstore day!
Saturday the 25th through Saturday May 2nd, all books bought for us from our wishlist or partner bookstores will be matched in a cash donation. This is one of the best times of the year to buy books for us!
Check out our wishlist here; bookshop.org/wishlists/60...
…feel as though I’m doing something tangible to subvert the purely punitive motives of the PIC, and potentially meet like-minded individuals.
- Courtney, BTB volunteer
I miss that aspect of my work, and I have seen firsthand the impact that organizations like this can have. Through volunteering, I hope to have a small impact on and to maybe improve someone experiencing incarceration’s day,…
I have worked within the criminal justice system for years, and, formerly, directly with incarcerated members of my community as an indigent defense attorney.
We asked our volunteers: what brings you to our work?
Thanks so much to Beyond Arrests for volunteering with us today!!
The greatest impact your donated books have had on me is that they give me a sense of self-worth as I gain knowledge and put it to use in my everyday life.
-B from PA
All that I've learned from the How-to Draw and paint books have been invaluable. The language learning books have been especially helpful. They not only offer me the mental escape from prison, but also useful knowledge for reading foreign comics and listening to foreign music.
Testimonials from people in prison. Can you tell us about a time when one of our books helped you? What impact did it have?
Almost every book I've received through your service has helped me in one way or another.
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What’s in store this year: Independent Bookstore Day is Saturday, April 26 this year! To celebrate, buy books for us from our special online wishlist anytime between April 25 and May 2, and all donations will be matched with a cash donation. These match weeks happen twice a year (spring and fall) and are the best times to support us, as your impact is doubled. For all trained and local volunteers, we’ll be hosting “packathons” throughout the year. At packathons, we dedicate a full day to catching up on book requests, often fulfilling hundreds of requests with the help of volunteers who drop in throughout the day. Lastly, we hope to see you during in-person events at West Philly Porch Fest on Saturday, May 30
BTB By the Numbers We’ve compiled our final totals for 2025: we logged 10,000 requests across 212 unique institutions last year! That’s a lot of books.
We recently sent out our first newsletter of the year! We send out four newsletters each year with updates on our work, educational features, and ways to get involved. In this issue we shared details on our upcoming fundraiser, a look at life without parole sentences, and more!
Text reads; testimonials from people in prison. Can you tell us about a time when one of our books helped you? What impact did it have? I'm into drawing and cartooning, you guys sent me a book on caricature, I studied it and began to do my own caricatures, to this day I still use the skills I learned to do likenesses for commissary items -Anonymous
We often receive requests for religious texts as people in prison are looking to find hope and improve themselves. If you have books to donate, contact us at donations@booksthroughbars.org
Thanks so much to the Philly Muslim Freedom Funs for their kind and generous book donation! We operate almost entirely on book donations from the community.
A group of six people standing in the Books Through Bars library
Thanks so much to the group from @exelonofficial who volunteered with us! If you would like to bring a group to volunteer, reach out to us via the form on our website! (Link in bio)
and potentially meet like-minded individuals.”
- Courtney, BTB volunteer
the impact that organizations like this can have. Through volunteering, I hope to have a small impact on and to maybe improve someone experiencing incarceration’s day, feel as though I’m doing something tangible to subvert the purely punitive motives of the PIC…
Text reads; We asked our volunteers, what brings you to our work? I have worked within the criminal justice system for years, and, formerly, directly with incarcerated members of my community as an indigent defense attorney. I miss that aspect of my work, and I have seen firsthand the impact that organizations like this can have. Through volunteering, I hope to have a small impact on and to maybe improve someone experiencing incarceration’s day, feel as though I’m doing something tangible to subvert the purely punitive motives of the PIC, and potentially meet like-minded individuals. - Courtney, BTB volunteer Purple background with a graphic of books lined up and the Books Through Bars logo at the bottom
We asked our volunteers, what brings you to our work?
“I have worked within the criminal justice system for years, and, formerly, directly with incarcerated members of my community as an indigent defense attorney. I miss that aspect of my work, and I have seen firsthand…
Thanks so much to the students from Swathmore who volunteered with us a few weeks ago! If you are interested in bringing a group to volunteer, reach out via the form on our website!
Thanks so much to the West Chester University Criminal Justice Student Association for volunteering with us! If you are interested in bringing a group to volunteer at Books Through Bars, complete the volunteer form on our website!
We asked our volunteers: what brings you to our work? We’ll be sharing these testimonials in the coming months, stay tuned for more!
We have four special requests that we need help fulfilling. Do you have any of these? Are you able to buy one of these books? Let us know!
🚗 How to build engines
🌎 2026 Almanac
🧑🏭 Welding how-to
🧑⚕️ Physicians Drug Reference (aka the pill book)
Thanks so much to the Greater Philadelphia Law Library Association for volunteering with us last week!
Join Books Through Bars for a hot dog fundraiser at Nikki Lopez next Friday, February 27th, from 7-9pm!