No Right To Read: Profiteering Corporations Creep Into Prison Libraries ▬ People”s World

No Right To Read: Profiteering Corporations Creep Into Prison Libraries

@prisonbookprog

People”s World: 12.22.2020 by Kaitlin Peterson

When thinking about what incarcerated people need, perhaps a library is not the first thing that comes to mind. However, the population within prison walls is typically one that reads more than those on the outside. As a public librarian, I’ve long been keenly aware of the positive role prison libraries play in the lives of incarcerated people, but I also knew that recently things have been changing—and not necessarily for the better. Consultations with other professionals in the field confirmed it: The creep of profiteering corporations into prison libraries is increasingly threatening the access of incarcerated people to books.

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James Friedman, a former volunteer who ran a program that allowed distribution of books at the Allegheny library, explained what he sees as the real motivation for the tablet program: The point of getting tablets into incarcerated people’s hands, Friedman says, is to be able to sell access to communication like texting or video chat and games that he calls “time-wasters on your phone” that are hyper-monetized. “It’s basically a way to milk people of their commissary funds without selling them any physical goods.” On top of all this, just 214 titles are available on the tablets.

Few books, lots of profits

And then there are the private prison libraries.

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The Books to Prison Project reports being unable to send free dictionaries and blank notebooks to some areas because the contract between the prison system and a private commissary vendor stipulates that such items can only be received through commissary purchases.

According to Newsweek, it costs inmates 5¢ per minute to read books, listen to music, or play games; 25¢ per minute for video visitations; 25¢ per written message; and 50¢ to send a photo with a message. Wages in the state’s prisons range from 4¢ to 58¢ an hour, Prison Policy Initiative estimates.

Profiteering practices in prison facilities are difficult to challenge.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 13

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 18-19 yrs. old

(college level entry)