Appalachian Prison Book Project (APBP)

06/06/2026

Good morning! It's Lydia with another Special Request Saturday. 📚

We're looking for new or used paperback books that meet these needs:

➡️ George in VIrginia wants a book on installing solar panels.

✅ Jake in Kentucky would like a book on stretching or yoga.

➡️ Cecil in Virginia is looking for a Tim Dorsey book.

✅ William in Maryland wants to read "The Inner Structure of Tai Chi: Mastering the Classic Forms of Tai Chi Chi Kung" by Mantak Chia and Juan Li.

Please leave a comment if you can take care of a request so I can update the list! Requests with ➡️ are open, and those with ✅ have been filled.

**Reminder: Don't forget to include the "Special Requests" label on any donations!**

Mail book donations to

Appalachian Prison Book Project
c/o Special Requests Team
PO Box 601
Morgantown, WV 26507

If you are in Morgantown, WV and want to drop off books at our office in the Aull Center, put them in the box in the closet labeled "Special Requests."

If you are interested in donating to help us mail these books to the folks who requested them, we accept monetary donations as well. It costs about $5.50 to mail a book, so we need around $22.00 to pay for postage that covers this week's special requests: [email protected]" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://www.paypal.com/donate/?business=[email protected]

We're so grateful to everyone who likes, shares, comments, and donates in response to these special request posts. Thanks to you, we're able to send incarcerated folks the books they want to read. We couldn't do this without your help! ❤️

06/05/2026

For the curious, here are some stats from May 2026:

Total books logged: 137
Top state: Virginia (57 books)
Top genre: Reference (27 books)
Book highlight: "Pocket Tai Chi" by Tri Thong Dang, sent to Christopher in Virginia

Thank you to everyone for your support and generosity. It’s what makes this work possible! We couldn’t do this without you. ❤️

06/04/2026

Some truly spectacular envelope art from someone incarcerated in Tennessee. 🦋 🌺

06/01/2026

Attention Morgantown, WV folks: Join us for our first-ever summer community wrapping party! ☀️

Beat the heat at Ascend WV on Wednesday, June 17. We'll be wrapping books from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Stop by anytime. New and experienced volunteers welcome!

05/30/2026

UPDATE: All the special requests for this week have been filled. Thank you, everyone!

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Good morning! It's Lydia with another Special Request Saturday. 📚

We're looking for new or used paperback books that meet these needs:

✅ Edwin in Virginia wants to read a biography of Napoleon Bonaparte.

✅ Raheem in Maryland is looking for a book on how to do car window tinting or vehicle wraps and graphics.

✅ Terrell in Virginia would like a book on how to start a cleaning business.

Please leave a comment if you can take care of a request so I can update the list! Requests with ➡️ are open, and those with ✅ have been filled.

**Reminder: Don't forget to include the "Special Requests" label on any donations!**

Mail book donations to

Appalachian Prison Book Project
c/o Special Requests Team
PO Box 601
Morgantown, WV 26507

If you are in Morgantown, WV and want to drop off books at our office in the Aull Center, put them in the box in the closet labeled "Special Requests."

If you are interested in donating to help us mail these books to the folks who requested them, we accept monetary donations as well. It costs about $5.50 to mail a book, so we need around $16.50 to pay for postage that covers this week's special requests: [email protected]" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://www.paypal.com/donate/?business=[email protected]

We're so grateful to everyone who likes, shares, comments, and donates in response to these special request posts. Thanks to you, we're able to send incarcerated folks the books they want to read. We couldn't do this without your help! ❤️

05/28/2026

Applications for the 2026–2027 Darrin Lester Scholarship are due July 17! 🎓

This scholarship, co-funded by APBP and the WVU Higher Education in Prison Initiative, is open to applicants who have recently been released from prison in West Virginia or southwestern Pennsylvania.

Three $3,000 scholarships will be available for the 2026–2027 academic year.

We welcome qualified applicants to apply.

The Darrin Lester Scholarship supports the educational goals of justice-impacted individuals in WV and southwestern PA. Learn how to apply.

05/23/2026

UPDATE: Apologies, folks—I didn’t realize how expensive this specific book is! I think any book related to becoming an electrician would be helpful.

Good morning! It's Lydia with another Special Request Saturday. 📚

We're looking for a new or used paperback book that meets this need:

➡️ Travis in Virginia wants to pursue a career as an electrician and would like a 2026 National Electrical Code book or another book relevant to his goals.

Please leave a comment if you can take care of a request so I can update the list! Requests with ➡️ are open, and those with ✅ have been filled.

**Reminder: Don't forget to include the "Special Requests" label on any donations!**

Mail book donations to

Appalachian Prison Book Project
c/o Special Requests Team
PO Box 601
Morgantown, WV 26507

If you are in Morgantown, WV and want to drop off books at our office in the Aull Center, put them in the box in the closet labeled "Special Requests."

If you are interested in donating to help us mail these books to the folks who requested them, we accept monetary donations as well. It costs about $5.50 to mail a book, so we need around $5.50 to pay for postage that covers this week's special requests: [email protected]" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://www.paypal.com/donate/?business=[email protected]

We're so grateful to everyone who likes, shares, comments, and donates in response to these special request posts. Thanks to you, we're able to send incarcerated folks the books they want to read. We couldn't do this without your help! ❤️

05/16/2026

Good morning! It's Lydia with another Special Request Saturday! 📚
. . except there are no new special requests this week. Tune in next Saturday to see new requests.

P.S. Thank you all for supporting this weekly call. We couldn't do this without you. ❤️

05/13/2026

Such a cool use of pencil shading on this envelope art! Can you spot the sun’s rays through the clouds? ⛅️

05/09/2026

UPDATE: Both special requests for this week have been filled. Thank you, everyone! As I was reminded of today, it takes a village. ❤️

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Good morning! It's Lydia with another Special Request Saturday! 📚

We're looking for new or used paperback books that meet these needs:

✅ Charles in Kentucky is looking for "Everything You Need to Know But Were Never Told" by David Icke.

✅ Franco in West Virginia wants a Spanish-German dictionary.

Please leave a comment if you can take care of a request so I can update the list! Requests with ➡️ are open, and those with ✅ have been filled.

**Reminder: Don't forget to include the "Special Requests" label on any donations!**

Mail book donations to

Appalachian Prison Book Project
c/o Special Requests Team
PO Box 601
Morgantown, WV 26507

If you are in Morgantown, WV and want to drop off books at our office in the Aull Center, put them in the box in the closet labeled "Special Requests."

If you are interested in donating to help us mail these books to the folks who requested them, we accept monetary donations as well. It costs about $5.50 to mail a book, so we need around $11.00 to pay for postage that covers this week's special requests: [email protected]" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://www.paypal.com/donate/?business=[email protected]

We're so grateful to everyone who likes, shares, comments, and donates in response to these special request posts. Thanks to you, we're able to send incarcerated folks the books they want to read. We couldn't do this without your help! ❤️