Clinton’s Comments (group member since Jan 29, 2014)

Clinton’s comments from the Sentences: Book Donations to Prison Libraries and Juvenile Detention Centers group.

Beverly Hills's city jail accepts books. Soft or hard cover are both okay.

You can mail them to the Police Dept at the address below, and they will be given to the jail. Do not send any content that's excessively violent or sexual. Mainstream stuff is okay.

Address is:
Beverly Hills Police Department
attn: book donation for city jail
464 N Rexford Dr
Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Thank you for your donation, and when shipping with USPS, don't forget to ask for the media rate!

Four places to donate scripture, all faiths needed!

Please consider donating religious texts from any faith tradition to any of the four facilities below. Please note some have slightly different guidelines listed, but in all cases, do not send any text from one religion that compares itself to another or expresses any kind of negative opinion about another faith.

Noble Correctional Institution
Attn: Chaplain
15708 McConnelsville Rd
Caldwell, OH 43724

Noble Correctional Institution is open to any religious texts of any faith tradition, hardcover or softcover.

Lee Arrendale State Prison
attn: Chaplain Bishop
2023 Gainesville Hwy
Alto, GA 30510

Lee Arrendale State Prison is a women's facility and they are looking for Holy Scripture of any faith tradition, but are specifically needing Catholic Bibles and anything in large print. Large print scripture is always in high demand here. Hardcover or softcover is fine.

Central Mississippi Correctional Facility
Attn: Chaplain
3794 MS-468
Pearl, MS 39208

For Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, please only send softcover books.

Moore Haven Correctional Facility
Attn: Chaplain
P.O. Box 69
Moore Haven, FL 33471

For Moore Haven Correctional Facility, please only send softcover books.

As always, don't forget to ask the USPS for the media rate. Thank you for donating!

SCI Phoenix in the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area could use your book, comic, and magazine donations!

The State Correctional Institution – Phoenix in Pennsylvania will accept soft or hard cover books, comics, and magazines. There is not a specific genre that is more requested than another.

What not to send - the usual stuff. Nothing that promotes physical, racial, or sexual animosity.

All book donations should be addressed as following:

Security Processing Center
SCI-Phoenix West Library
268 Bricker Road
Bellefonte, PA 16823

And remember, if you're mailing books via the USPS, make sure you ask for the media rate. Be careful with comics and magazines, because those typically contain advertisements, which would exclude the entire box it's in from qualifying for the media rate.

Lakin Correctional Center in West Columbia, WV could use your picture books and general fiction!

This is a women's facility, and many of the residents are mothers with young children at home. The correctional center provides tablets so they can facetime their children. Please consider donating your picture books so the residents can have stories to read to their children through their tablets.

The picture books are also used by the residents to read stories to the most senior residents once they have reached an age where they are no longer able to read on their own.

This facility also will put to good use any:
Large print reading
General popular fiction
Sci-Fi
Paranormal Fantasy
"Romantasy" (paranormal romance)
Cowboy romance stories
Any fiction highlighting a drug addiction recovery story

Commonly requested authors at this facility are:
B.J. Daniels
Nora Roberts
James Patterson
Danielle Steele
Janet Evanovich

What not to send:
Please avoid single books from a series. This can be frustrating for inmates when the whole series is not available. Standalone stories are preferable. Also, don't send the usual stuff. Nothing that contains graphic violence or sexuality, or promotes sexual/racial/any other kind of animosity.

No donation form required.

Mail to:
Lakin Correctional Center
attn: Donna Bush
11264 Ohio River Rd
West Columbia, WV 25287

As always, don't forget to ask the USPS for the media rate.

Thank you for donating!

Hi again Kimberly! For the second part of your question, I have someone you can reach out to. Her name is Julie Forbes and she knows you may be emailing her. She runs a program in Washington and has done an amazing job with it, so she should be a great person to write to. Her email is jforbes (at) chehalisschools (dot) org


Kimberly wrote: "Hi Folks,

We're revamping our juvenile detention center library and need help building a collection that resonates with incarcerated youth. We're especially interested in:

Graphic novels: Captiv..."

Hi Kimberly! For the book donation part of your question, would you be willing to share some info with the group? Information needed would be:
-Name of facility
-What you are looking for (titles, authors, genres, etc.)
-Any donation limitations (some places can't take hard cover books)
-Mailing address (must be able to ship via USPS to get the media rate)
-Any additional donation instructions, like if a donation form is needed.

For the second part of your question, which was about managing a catalog and the vetting process, that's not my department but I'll see if I can get you in touch someone.

Thanks for reaching out! We'll see what we can do to help!

Please see update above. Thank you.

Cherry County Jail in Valentine, Nebraska is accepting general fiction paperbacks.

This is a small facility but could use some new reading material. Any general fiction is good, but they are only able to accept paperbacks.

No donation form is needed.

Mail books to:
Cherry County Jail
365 N Main St
Valentine, NE 69201

As always, don't forget to ask the USPS for the media rate. Thank you for donating!

Hello, and welcome! Check out our feature on the Story Sanctuary by one of our favorite donors and friends, Kasey Giard. https://thestorysanctuary.com/6-easy-...

New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, NJ is accepting book donations.

Please consider donating your mystery, fantasy, sci-fi, inspirational, self-help, and general popular fiction to this facility. Tom Clancy is requested often as well.

Books can be mailed to:
New Jersey State Prison
attn: Education Dept
PO Box 861
Trenton, NJ 08625

As always, don't forget to ask the USPS for the media rate. Thank you for donating!

The Oregon Department of Corrections is accepting book donations. If you donate to the location below, they will collect the books and distribute them to other locations within the Oregon prison system.

What to send:
Any hard or soft cover books. Since the books will be received and distributed after they arrive, you can pretty much send any genre you'd like.

What not to send:
The usual stuff. No sexually or violently charged material. Nothing that depicts racial animosity, how to injure others, how to escape, etc.

No donation form is required.

Mail to:
Oregon Department of Corrections
attn: Library Services
3723 Fairview Industrial Drive SE
Suite 200
Salem, OR 97302

And as always, don’t forget to ask the USPS for the media rate. Thank you for donating!

Guilford County Detention Center in Greensboro, NC could use your paperback/soft cover books. Their residents are prolific readers and would benefit from some new material. Here is a list of their most requested books:

1. Mystery/suspense novels (their most requested).
2. Books in Spanish (currently they have very few of these).
3. African American authors (fiction and non-fiction).
4. Specific authors requested: Janet Evanovich, Stephen King, James Patterson, Ann Rule, Lee Child, David Baldacci, Stuart Woods, Michael Crichton, Vince Flynn, John Grisham, Harlan Coben, Dean Koontz, Greg Isles, Philip Margolin, Dan Brown, and Sidney Sheldon.
5. Specific series requested: Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, Star Wars series, Twilight (needing the fourth book in the series), Lord of the Rings, and various large fantasy books (800-1000 pages).
6. Westerns, like those of William W. Johnstone or Louis L'Amour.
7. General non-fiction requested: Biographies, self-help, inspiring Christian authors, history, geography.

What not to send:
Hard covered books. And don't send the usual stuff. No sexually or violently charged material. Nothing that depicts racial animosity, how to injure others, how to escape, etc.

No donation form is required.

Mail to:
Guilford County Detention Center
attn: Chaplain
201 S Edgeworth St
Greensboro, NC 27401

And as always, don’t forget to ask the USPS for the media rate.
Thank you for donating!

Please consider purchasing a book from the wish list below for the Green Hill Academic School Library. Green Hill School in Chehalis, WA is a medium/maximum security fenced facility that provides older males sentenced to Juvenile Rehabilitation treatment with education and vocational training.

https://linktr.ee/greenhillbooks?fbcl...

From Julie Forbes, Green Hill Academic School Library: “Why Books? Books are a lifeline for our young men at Green Hill. They inspire, educate, stabilize, and soothe. They take them to other worlds, help them understand other people and ultimately open them up to seeing themselves. Our guys are bright, funny, resilient and they are always learning. Thank you to everyone who has made literature a connection to the outside world.”

Big Sandy is a United States Penitentiary (USP) in Inez, Kentucky. They could use your popular fiction (all kinds), true crime, James Patterson, Westerns, and fantasy.

Paperback books of just about any kind are appreciated. Books here get read often, and your donation would go to good use.

What not to send:
-Do not send hardcover books, comics, or magazines.
-The usual stuff. Nothing that promotes racial, sexual, or physical animosity or violence.

Mail to:

USP Big Sandy
attn: Education Department
1197 Airport Rd
Inez, KY 41224

And as always, don't forget to ask the USPS for the media rate. Thank you for donating!

So glad to hear it! Thank you Monica for letting us know. If you ever have any specific requests, please let me know and I'll put out a post.

The information in the post above was updated and verified with the facility on March 22, 2022.

Note: this is an update and edit from a previous post. The information below is current as of December 14, 2023.

Colbert Lauderdale Attention Home (youth ages 10-18) in Florence, AL could use your comics, magazines, and books for young people!

This facility has houses for at-risk youth, boys and girls ages 10-18. Their girls' home burned down in September 2022. The girls were in class elsewhere, so they were not hurt. The housemaster escaped safely, so no humans were injured in the fire. Sadly, two dogs did not survive. In the process, all of their books burned, losing several shelves of reading material, so they are greatly in need of books and appreciative of any new donations.

What to send:
-Anything appropriate for readers ages 10-18
-Comics
-Magazines
-Books, hard or soft cover both okay

What not to send:
The usual stuff. Nothing that contains graphic violence or sexuality, or promotes sexual/racial/any other kind of animosity.

No donation form required.

Mail to:
Colbert Lauderdale Attention Home
attn: book donations
205 West College St
Florence, AL 35630

(That address is different than the original post in 2022. Their office moved due to recent flooding. It has been a difficult year for them because of the fire in the home and the flood to the previous main office.)

And as always, don't forget to ask the USPS for the media rate, unless your shipment contains material with advertisements, which comics and magazines often do.

Thank you for donating!

Info updated March 8, 2022.

Dade Correctional Institution in South Florida could use your general book donations.

Hard cover and soft cover books of just about any kind are appreciated.

What not to send: the usual stuff. Nothing that promotes racial, sexual, or physical animosity or violence.

Note that a donation form is required for this location. Please see our photos for the Florida Department of Corrections donation form. Include that in your shipment, and mail to:

Dade Correctional Institution
c/o Ms. Edgecomb, L.T.A.
19000 SW 377th Street
Florida City, FL 33034

And as always, don't forget to ask the USPS for the media rate. Thank you for donating!

Update: the info below is verified as current as of January 2025.

The Utah State Correctional Facility is open to receiving book donations to support their libraries and the individuals they serve. Once donations are received, their team carefully reviews and determines the most suitable library placement for each book. Please note that they cannot accept donations designated for specific patrons or libraries.

Currently, the most requested book genres include:
- Self-Help
- Fantasy
- Current Fiction
- Art and Drawing

Their address is:

Utah State Correctional Facility
Attention: Librarian - Claudia Taylor
1480 N 8000 W
Salt Lake City, UT 84116

And as always, if you send your shipment via USPS, don't forget to ask for the media rate. Thank you for donating!