Books in Prisons??
The person in the above picture is Reginald Dwayne Betts, and he is sitting in the National Building Museum in front of one of the specially designed book shelves he created through his Freedom Reads organization. Bookshelves like the one in the photo have been installed in two prisons, one in Massachusetts and one in Louisiana. By the end of 2023, Betts hopes to have installed 200 additional libraries in prisons around the country. And that’s not all. His foundation plans to add another 200 every two years until the number reaches 1,000.
Why is a gifted American poet, legal scholar and educator involved with libraries for prisons? The main reason is because Betts himself was imprisoned for over eight years at the age of 16. During that time, books were his salvation and propelled him to succeed after he was released. To read more of his story, click on the link below to see an article from the March 16, 2022, Washington Post.