While there are some people that believe prisons to be nothing more than a place to shuttle off the worst people in society, so that they may be out of sight, out of mind, there are plenty more who see it differently. Yes, prisons are in place to punish those that do wrong, but the goal is also to rehabilitate each inmate so that they may learn from their mistake and be a productive member of society when they are released. The best way to accomplish that is through education, much of which comes from reading. Inmates don’t have the same access to books that we regular civilians do, but that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t. There are now a number of organizations that work hard to ensure that books are donated to prisons all across the country. They are very much on board with the teaching side of prison time and feel as though the addition of books into the prison system can only help that cause. If this sounds like something that you believe can really make a difference, you are probably wondering how to go about donating books to the prison in your area. You are not allowed to simply go and drop them off there, and there are a few steps you need to follow if you wish to help. One of the most popular groups that believe in this cause is the Prison Books Program. You should seek them out first to see if they service the prisons in your area. If you have no luck there, try simply Googling “prison book donations” to get a list of programs that might be available in and around your area. As mentioned earlier, there are a growing number of groups that work hard to ensure that books find their way to inmates. Each of these organizations will have their own individual donation policies, so be sure to read the fine print to make sure that you align yourself with a group that matches best with you. There are a couple of different ways that you can go from here: if you have a ton of used books that you want to get rid of, you can contact the group to make them aware of that fact, or you may simply ask about becoming a volunteer so that you can start collecting books for the cause through a number of different means. If you want to volunteer, start thinking about setting up book drives or having a place where people can come and drop off their used books. You will want to make sure that the books meet all content conditions as laid out by the group and the prison system in your area. There are also very definite rules about packaging and sending the books, so when you reach that point of the process you may want to consider handing it over to the organization who will have plenty of experience in doing so.