Toward the end of 2019, Mark Trecka, a shopkeeper at Binnacle Books, had a late-night conversation with Laurie Dick, the founder of the Beacon Prison Rides Project, which offers free rides for families between the Beacon train station and Beacon-area prisons. The two wanted to brainstorm a collaboration that would combine Binnacle’s books with the resources of Prison Rides. What they didn’t expect is that their discussion would lead to an immediate plan of action. “It was one of those remarkable things,” says Trecka. “We had one meeting, brainstormed a model for the project, launched it, and really hit the ground running.” What materialized from their discussion was the Beacon Prison Books Project. Founded by Trecka, Dick, writer Kristen Holt-Browning, and Binnacle owners Kate Ryan and Annmarie Nye, the volunteer-run venture has a singular goal: to provide free books to those behind bars.
Their approach is simple. Incarcerated people send book requests through postcards or letters to the project’s PO Box in Beacon. Project volunteers order the requested books and display them in participating bookstores for patrons to purchase as sponsored gifts. Volunteers then send the purchased books, each accompanied with a handwritten note of encouragement, to the requesting inmate. “We’ve always dealt directly with incarcerated people,” says Trecka. “We don’t collaborate with the Department of Corrections or the prisons themselves. We believe people are deserving of human contact and deserving of books to read, whoever they are or whatever situation they’re in.”
In fact, most inmates learn about the book offerings by word of mouth. Trecka notes one correspondence where an inmate asked for six books, intending to share three with another inmate who couldn’t afford a stamp to write his own request. Folks behind bars often provide feedback on what it means to them to receive books, such as this note from an anonymous reader: “I really appreciate the book project. You give us the ability to go to other places, other worlds, and experience other things we could not do without you and imagination. Time passes so much faster with a good book! Many blessings to all of you and the people who support you. And us!”
Michal Mart and Christian Stadler have been co-leading the project since March, a period marked by significant expansion. While the initiative began at Binnacle Books in Beacon, it now includes several Hudson Valley bookstores. In July, Kingston’s Blackbird Infoshop, Half Moon Books, Rough Draft Bar & Books, and World’s End Comics joined the bandwagon. In October, both Oblong Books locations in Rhinebeck and Millerton followed suit. Additionally, the project recently celebrated the milestone of sending over 3,000 books to incarcerated readers since February 2020. While the current number of book requests fluctuates, they’ve grown to average 250 to 300 requests a month.
While growth means success, it also brings challenges. Although there are several state prisons near Beacon where the project has sent books—such as the Fishkill, Bedford Hills, and Green Haven correctional facilities—they provide literature to anyone incarcerated in New York. The demand for reading material often surpasses their capacity to provide it. “One challenge we’re starting to work on is communicating back to people,” says Mart. “Mark was doing it for a while, but one person can’t correspond with a thousand. While our books come with a few words of encouragement and connection, sometimes prisoners want to know more about how the project works or find out other things, such as how to get clothes for an interview when they get out.” To deal with the issue, they’ve created a new volunteer role specifically for correspondence.
As for the books they provide, Trecka emphasizes that the variety of book requests from those incarcerated is as wide as it would be in any population. Still, the project has seen some consistent trends. Mart notes, “We have a lot of people who request things related to reentry to society. That includes texts on various trade jobs, or just general money management. There’s a part of the population contacting us that participates in the Bard Prison Initiative. They usually request books that they’re studying in their programs.” On the other hand, fantasy has also been a consistently popular genre since the project began. “There’s a really interesting subset of people that request roleplaying games,” says Mart. “They’ve told us that it helps them to escape. They can create their own universe with rules and something to look forward to.”
While addressing the project’s place in the wider discussion on prison reform and rehabilitation, Trecka provides his personal insights. “I don’t believe in prison reform,” says Trecka. “The other option is not a better prison or a prison with more books. The better option is no prison. The powers that incarcerate people will always find ways to penalize them beyond whatever reforms we get to protect them.”
However, despite his own political opinions, Trecka emphasizes that the Prison Books Project was not founded on political grounds. “Obviously, to call myself a prison abolitionist is taking a political stance, but the actual function of the project is, in a sense, very apolitical,” says Trecka. “It was not founded to reform prisons; it was founded to get books to people. It’s just dignity. It’s just humanitarian. It’s as simple as that.”
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