Prison Books Collective

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Prison Books Collective Prison Books Collective is an NC-based nonprofit founded in 2006 that sends hundreds of books to people in NC and AL prisons and jails each month.

Banned Books Week ends today! If you haven’t yet, consider purchasing a book from our wishlists with Golden Fig Books, F...
10/10/2026

Banned Books Week ends today! If you haven’t yet, consider purchasing a book from our wishlists with Golden Fig Books, Flyleaf Books, or Quail Ridge Books. Every purchase is matched with a monetary donation.
🤍📦🕊️📚.
Letter transcription: “Thank you for the two books you sent me. I can’t wait to see what you send next. When I’m done with them I’ll give them to the prison library so others can enjoy them. Bless you guys for sending a little hope and sunshine in this dark place.”

This Banned Books Week, help us send more free books to prisons by purchasing these and other highly requested titles fr...
10/09/2026

This Banned Books Week, help us send more free books to prisons by purchasing these and other highly requested titles from our wishlists at partner bookstores, listed in the link in bio! Every purchase will be matched with a monetary donation, and will support a local independent bookstore. 🤍 just two more days left!

Interrupting our Banned Books Week posts to remind you that you can donate paperback books to incarcerated readers durin...
10/09/2026

Interrupting our Banned Books Week posts to remind you that you can donate paperback books to incarcerated readers during the Raleigh Really Really Free Market on Sunday, October 11 between 11am and 1pm! We are in particular need of fantasy.

Look for volunteers with signs! Read below for more information.

RULES: Please, only GOOD CONDITION PAPERBACKS of the topics listed below. No hardcover, spiral-bound, or marked-in books. We cannot use content about tattooing or with pictures of nudity. If you bring a part of a series, please bring all the books that came before it too! (Preferably rubberbanded together.)

ACCEPTED BOOK GENRES AND TOPICS BELOW!

Beginner’s computer science (only *recent* books)
Books in Spanish (any type for general audiences)
Business and nonprofit guides
Christian fiction
Cookbooks
Dictionaries & thesauruses
DIY/Labor (e.g., carpentry, automotive repair)
Drawing/coloring as well as sudoku + other activity books
Exercise/yoga
Fantasy books (only bring sequels if you bring all the ones before it, and please rubberband series together!)
Foreign language dictionaries
GED prep books
Graphic novels (no nudity)
Homesteading/wilderness survival
Horror
Large print books of all kinds for general audiences
Law (criminal + civil)
Manga
Math/Science
Pagan/New Age
General psychology
Sci-Fi (only bring sequels if you bring all the ones before it, and please rubberband series together!)
Self-help
Thrillers
True Crime
Urban Fiction
Westerns

You can support our work DOUBLY this week! From 10/4-10/10, if you buy from one of our indie bookstore wishlists, we als...
10/08/2026

You can support our work DOUBLY this week! From 10/4-10/10, if you buy from one of our indie bookstore wishlists, we also get the money matched! This will help us send our 2,500+ packages a year, and address our most common reader needs. See the link in our bio for wishlists at Flyleaf Books , Quail Ridge Books , and Golden Fig Books

Buy a book for someone in prison this Banned Books Week! All wishlist purchases with our partner bookstores are matched ...
10/05/2026

Buy a book for someone in prison this Banned Books Week! All wishlist purchases with our partner bookstores are matched with a monetary donation. This helps us acquire highly requested and rarely donated books, and gives us some extra funds for postage and supplies. Now through Oct. 10 - find wishlists at the link in our bio!
Letter 1:
To whom it may concern —
My name is [redacted] and I am serving 14 1/2 to 2 years. I love to read so much so that I became the librarian for the east yard. Our inventory is aging and I have read most of them. It would be great if you could send me some books and after I read them, I will donate them to the library.

Letter 2:
Anything you send will be appreciated. Thank you for what you do. It is very kind of you and helping us with books to read gives us serenity and literally and figuratively opens up worlds for the 4 walls we are physically contained in. Thank you.

Letter 3:
P.B.C.
Thank you for the two books you sent me, I can’t wait to se what you send next. When I’m done with them I’ll give them to the Prison library so others can enjoy them. Bless you guys for sending a little hope and sunshine in this dark place.

Letter 4:
Prison Books Collective,
Hello I hope all is well! I’m in desperate need for some books to read due to the fact that this facility does not provide any type of library or book assistance. I will be so thankful for any books you may send as soon as you can.

Today begins Banned Books Week! Now through Sat., October 10, every book purchased from our wishlists at Flyleaf Books, ...
10/04/2026

Today begins Banned Books Week! Now through Sat., October 10, every book purchased from our wishlists at Flyleaf Books, Golden Fig Books, and Quail Ridge Books will be matched with a monetary donation. We are constantly navigating the shifting restrictions set by individual prisons, who make up the largest censoring body in the country with almost no oversight or accountability. Help us get more free books to people who can’t access them otherwise. See the link in our bio for wishlists. 🤍🕊️💌

Have good condition paperbacks you don’t need? Join us for our monthly book donation event at the Carrboro Town Commons ...
09/30/2026

Have good condition paperbacks you don’t need? Join us for our monthly book donation event at the Carrboro Town Commons parking lot - this Saturday, October 3 from 1-2pm! Fantasy needed in particular! 🧚🐉🧌🧙‍♂️

Look for volunteers with signs! Read below for more information on what we can and can’t accept.

RULES: Please, only GOOD CONDITION PAPERBACKS of the topics listed below. No hardcover, spiral-bound, or marked-in books. We cannot use content about tattooing or with pictures of nudity. If you bring a part of a series, please bring all the books that came before it too! (Preferably rubberbanded together.)

ACCEPTED BOOK GENRES AND TOPICS:
Beginner’s computer science (only *recent* books)
Books in Spanish (any type for general audiences)
Business and nonprofit guides
Christian fiction
Cookbooks
Dictionaries & thesauruses
DIY/Labor (e.g., carpentry, automotive repair)
Drawing/coloring as well as sudoku + other activity books
Exercise/yoga
Fantasy books (only bring sequels if you bring all the ones before it, and please rubberband series together!)
Foreign language dictionaries
GED prep books
Graphic novels (no nudity)
Homesteading/wilderness survival
Horror
Large print books of all kinds for general audiences
Law (criminal + civil)
Manga
Math/Science
Pagan/New Age
General psychology
Sci-Fi (only bring sequels if you bring all the ones before it, and please rubberband series together!)
Self-help
Thrillers
True Crime
Urban Fiction
Westerns

Books that don’t fit these categories or rules will be given to the Carrboro Really Really Free Market 🫶

We're excited to be tabling at 's block party and resource fair this Saturday! Stop by to learn more about the work and...
09/24/2026

We're excited to be tabling at 's block party and resource fair this Saturday! Stop by to learn more about the work and other organizations, and to drop off good-condition paperbacks.

A typical packaging shift involves reading letters from incarcerated people, selecting the books and/or zines that best ...
09/19/2026

A typical packaging shift involves reading letters from incarcerated people, selecting the books and/or zines that best fit the request, and packing it up to go to the post office. Thanks to these volunteers for making it all happen. 🤍 more help is always welcomed, so if you’re interested in joining our workdays, please email [email protected] for more information. 📦📚✉️🕊️

Donate paperback books to incarcerated readers during the Raleigh Really Really Free Market on Sunday, September 13 betw...
09/09/2026

Donate paperback books to incarcerated readers during the Raleigh Really Really Free Market on Sunday, September 13 between 11am and 1pm!! 🫶📚

Look for volunteers with signs! Read below for more information.

RULES: Please, only GOOD CONDITION PAPERBACKS of the topics listed below. No hardcover, spiral-bound, or marked-in books. We cannot use content about tattooing or with pictures of nudity. If you bring a part of a series, please bring all the books that came before it too! (Preferably rubberbanded together.)

ACCEPTED BOOK GENRES AND TOPICS BELOW!

❤️ We are in particular need of SPANISH FICTION! ❤️

Beginner’s computer science (only *recent* books)
Books in Spanish (any type for general audiences)
Business and nonprofit guides
Christian fiction
Cookbooks
Dictionaries & thesauruses
DIY/Labor (e.g., carpentry, automotive repair)
Drawing/coloring as well as sudoku + other activity books
Exercise/yoga
Fantasy books (only bring sequels if you bring all the ones before it, and please rubberband series together!)
Foreign language dictionaries
GED prep books
Graphic novels (no nudity)
Homesteading/wilderness survival
Horror
Large print books of all kinds for general audiences
Law (criminal + civil)
Manga
Math/Science
Pagan/New Age
General psychology
Sci-Fi (only bring sequels if you bring all the ones before it, and please rubberband series together!)
Self-help
Thrillers
True Crime
Urban Fiction
Westerns

Address

PO Box 625
Carrboro, NC
27510

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