PEN America questioned the rationales behind censoring books in prisons via a FOIA request to the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Departments of Corrections in DC and all fifty states. The rationales are like those used to target public schools and libraries. Pen America published a comprehensive report in October of this year entitled “Reading Between the Bars.”
State-banned prison book lists can contain thousands of titles, with all imprisoned persons prohibited from reading them across the state. Besides content, the sender, or the physical appearance of the reading material can cause the material to be banned. Some prisons require the prison administrator’s permission to approve a prisoner to receive materials. Other restrictions include limiting the number of books per month, the number of books a prisoner can have at one time, returning books to sender if not packaged according to their rules, and requiring books to be purchased from a state-approved business. This keeps friends, family members, churches, community groups, prison book programs, independent bookstores, and lesser-known publishers from sending books. It also prohibits free and used literature from being distributed.
The states with the most banned titles were Florida (22,825 titles up to September 2023), Texas (10,265 titles up to February 2023), Kansas (7,699 titles up to 2021), Virginia (7,204 titles up to 2022), and New York (5,356 titles as of 2019).
Another disturbing fact is that high-level prison officials are not responsible for creating the statewide banned lists. Instead, the mailroom staff decides what is to be banned. Mailroom staffing requires only a high school diploma. Prisons have a high staff turnover, so the staff are often untrained. Mailrooms are often understaffed and only open for limited hours.
Seventy percent of prisoners are unable to read at even a fourth-grade level. Those prisoners who learn to read and perhaps get an education, are the most likely to succeed on the outside. In California, they found that prisoners given access to higher education lowered recidivism by 43%, increased the chance of employment by 13%, and saved $5 for every $1 spent on education.
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