Books Through Bars Philly

Pictured here: the books we’ve received so far for our Prison Banned Books Week Fundraiser! Thanks so much to everyone who has supported us! It’s not too late to support; purchase books from our wishlist or from one of our partner bookstores and you donation will be doubled with a match!

Thanks so much to the University of Michigan Alumni Association Philadelphia Chapter for joining us for a volunteer session! We are 100% volunteer-run, and always in need of volunteers. If you would like to bring a group to volunteer with us, reach out via our website!

Thanks so much to Foulkeways retirement community in Gwenydd for this donation of books a couple weeks ago! We greatly appreciate it! Nearly our entire library comes from donations like these!

Q&A: Here’s What Pride Was Like in a California Prison

Thank you so much to everyone who donated to us during porch fest and dollar stroll! Celebrating that we raised over $900 dollars this will help us send more books to people in prisons!

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Some of our packages need to be individually wrapped with paper bags, and we are nearly out. Do you have any to donate? Help us out!

Emergency! We are nearly out of dictionaries! These are among our top requested books, as people in prisons are often using them to improve their literacy. Can you donate a dictionary (softcovers strongly preferred) or make a donation so we can purchase some?

Thanks so much to the folks from PHL-17 for joining us for a volunteer session! We are 100% volunteer-run, and always in need of volunteers. If you would like to bring a group to volunteer with us, reach out via our website!

Thanks so much to the volunteers from @exelonofficial.bsky.social who picked and invoiced books with us earlier this month! They also brought us lots of books, which are greatly appreciated! 📚📚📚

We get a number of requests written in Spanish - we always need more volunteers to help translate and pick books. We also could always use more books written in Spanish or for learning English/Spanish If you’d like to volunteer or donate books, check out the links on our website!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by during porchfest last Saturday! We’ll be out again this Thursday for Dollar Stroll! Stop by for $1 books or $5 to fill a bag with books.

We need cookbooks! Email donations@booksthroughbars.org to coordinate a donation! Check out www.booksthroughbars.org/donate-books for updated information about the kinds of books we need.

We need dictionaries! They are one of our most requested books, soft-cover strongly preferred. Email us at donations@booksthroughbars.org to set up a drop-off!

Thanks so much to the West Chester University Criminal Justice club for volunteering with us a couple weeks ago!

Join us on Memorial Day for a packathon! We’re starting the day with a new volunteer orientation from 11-1 (signup at booksthroughbars.org/volunteer) followed by a potluck style lunch at 1! Bring a friend and a dish for a day full of picking and packing books! Drop in as you wish!

Join Books Through Bars & Hearts On A Wire on Wednesday, May 5th from 6:30-8:30 for Literary Liberation! This is an educational event for anyone interested in low-risk advocacy for people who are incarcerated. We’ll chat about our work and then dive into volunteering tasks! Snacks & masks provided.

A few of our volunteers showed up for the #marchofinnocence block party last week to table as part of Mumia Week 2026. None of us are free until all of us are free! #FreeThemAll #FreeMumia #FreeMumiaAbuJamal

We asked our volunteers, what brings you to this work? I'd like to introduce more discussions about mass incarceration to the indie newsroom I created, and would like to be more educated myself. - BTB volunteer

Thanks so much to the Penn Alumni Club of Philadelphia for coming to volunteer with us last weekend! If you are interested in bringing a group to volunteer with us, reach out via the contact form on our website!

One awesome way you should celebrate is by buying books from our wishlist; bookshop.org/wishlists/60... All donations are matched so your impact is doubled, this week only! Help us send books to people in prisons!

Thanks so much to Beyond Arrests for volunteering with us today!!

Thanks so much to the group from @exelonofficial who volunteered with us! If you would like to bring a group to volunteer, reach out to us via the form on our website! (Link in bio)