Book Donation Guidelines

Most prison libraries are in need of: best sellers, thrillers, suspense, science fiction, books of interest to the African American community, books made into movies, books in Spanish, books about learning Spanish or teaching yourself to paint, etc.

Note: The following kinds of books are not accepted by the South Carolina Department of Corrections and may not be accepted by other prison libraries:

• Books with covers that show full frontal nudity
• Books on the martial arts
• Books about true crime
• Books depicting violent murder or any detailed descriptions of violence (the Patricia Cornwell book about Jack the Ripper was brought up as an example, although non fiction it certainly fits the bill: extremely detailed descriptions of why he was called the ripper (he ripped out body organs) etc. Not acceptable.
• Although the reading level of many prisoners is low, books for children are not desirable.

The condition of the book is of great importance, please check if you have any question about the condition.

Please email plp@seniorlearn.org for the mailing address to send books. Ship Media Rate. Your payment of the postage will be considered part of your donation.

Please take the time to ship books donated with lists of contents (title and author of books). The lists need to be affixed to every box. We are acting as the go between to save the libraries clerical time and money.

Where to Find Books to Donate

To find books you can donate to this project, check thrift stores, watch out for library and other book sales, and place boxes in collaborating institutions such as churches or senior centers, etc, that would like to contribute. Let's see how many different organizations and prison systems nationwide we can involve.