Ending Censorship Applies to Prison, Too: A Prison Banned Book Week News Roundup, 2023

Recidivism goes down when individuals experiencing incarceration have access to books, but prisons limit access by not having libraries or only having old and out-of-date materials in those libraries; putting extreme limits on where and how books can be sent to those inside the facility; allowing mailroom employees to pick and choose what they determine to be “appropriate”; or a combination of these or other factors. If access to books decreases recidivism, then why would prisons limit it so much?

The answer is profit.

Over the last two years, as censorship and book bans have increased in public institutions, the need to tackle prison censorship has not ended. If anything, those working to change this system and get books inside prisons are being heard even less than they were prior to the start of the pandemic. Access to digital books and the technology to use them remained behind paywalls for too many who are incarcerated, further choking the rights of those in a time when the world outside–and, indeed, inside–was completely upended. Books continued to be banned or removed, and libraries continued to either not exist or fell into further disarray, thanks to “budget” and “safety” concerns.

Despite the fact there continues to be a divide between the work being done to ensure access to books and libraries remains uninhibited for school and public library users and those experiencing incarceration, the two movements are not in opposition. If anything, the positive steps forward to ensure that books cannot be banned in school and public libraries (including state-level laws like those in Illinois and those proposed in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and others) are an opportunity to encourage those involved in this fight to not only stay engaged but to build knowledge of and create action around prison censorship.

Book ban bills may target schools and libraries specifically for now, but those actions are forward movements and should create momentum to take the First Amendment Rights protections even further. Indeed, it would make sense for parent groups pushing against book bans on the local level at their schools and libraries to connect with the leaders of anti-censorship campaigns in prisons and share their mutual knowledge, their tools, their wins, and their defeats. If access to books means people are less likely to return to prison once they are released, is that not a lesson that should also be shared at school and library board meetings? If legislators have signed off on a bill to end book bans in schools and libraries, why not push for the next measure of liberation and demand that every prison, public or private, have a library equipped with a full-time employee and books that have an average publication date within the last 5-10 years?

Wins in one arena are wins in all arenas…if action continues.

We know that the same things driving people to ban books in schools and libraries is the same exact bigotry and racism behind choking access to books in prisons. It’s hatred, it’s power, and it is fear of what happens when someone is able to see themselves or others in a story and become empowered, enlightened, free. An educated populous is a populous that cannot be easily controlled or manipulated. We know this based on the connections between recidivism and books. We know this based on how reading increases empathy and multiple literacies and critical thinking.