Beacon Prison Books Project

𝕊𝔸𝕍𝔼 𝕋ℍ𝔼 𝔻𝔸𝕋𝔼 FRIDAY JUNE 12 AN EVENING TO BENEFIT THE BEACON PRISON BOOKS PROJECT _ Performances by Mark Trecka + Simon Keough at @binnaclebooks at 7:30pm _ all ages welcome Afterparty across the street @happyvalleybeacon ~9pm w/ DJs @kill_no_tears + @ninaloreneday _ 21+ Donations will be taken at both points of entry, books available for sponsorship at both sites. Spread the word, bring a friend. Let’s keep up the beautiful momentum of support for this project!

$4,310.38! That’s how much y’all raised for the Beacon Prison Books Project during the Indie Bookstore Week donation matching initiative. 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙉𝙆 𝙔𝙊𝙐! These funds will be a huge help to the continued success of the project. And with the nearly 200 books you all collectively sponsored during that week, the Prison Books Project total books sent is now well over 9,000. We couldn’t be more grateful for and amazed and inspired by all of you who turn up for the project again and again. On behalf of those requesters / readers incarcerated throughout New York State: thank you thank you thank you. Shoutout all our partner shops: @binnaclebooks @oblongbooks @roughdraftny @worldsendcomics @goodbooksny @blueheronbooksny stanzabooks @halfmoonbooks

TODAY is the LAST DAY to double your impact when you support the Beacon Prison Books Project. Until the end of the day, all Prison Books Project sponsorships via all of our partner shops WILL BE MATCHED thanks to a generous grant, good for up to $1,000 per store. None of the shops, as of this posting, have hit the limit. So help us get there! Whether you are a regular supporter of the project or have been meaning to sponsor a book and were waiting for the perfect excuse, this is an opportunity to visit one of our several Prison Books Project partner shops and make a positive impact. Please help us make the most of this amazing opportunity! @binnaclebooks @oblongbooks @roughdraftny @worldsendcomics @goodbooksny @blueheronbooksny @stanzabooks

For the entire week through Saturday May 2nd –– all Prison Books Project sponsorships via all of our partner shops WILL BE MATCHED. A generous organization is donating to the project the value of each book sponsored. So when you sponsor a book this week, you are sending a book to an incarcerated person and donating to the project at the same time. This grant is good for up to $1,000 per store, so help us rise to the occasion! Whether you are a regular supporter of the project or have been meaning to sponsor a book and were waiting for the perfect excuse, this matching week is an opportunity to visit one of our several Prison Books Project partner shops and make a positive impact. Please help us make the most of this amazing opportunity! @binnaclebooks @oblongbooks @roughdraftny @worldsendcomics @goodbooksny @blueheronbooksny @stanzabooks

So many amazing people came through @binnaclebooks over the course of Indie Bookstore Weekend in support of the Prison Books Project and our special donation matching opportunity! ❤️ Donation matching is active THROUGH SATURDAY MAY 2nd at all of our partner stores so please keep showing up. A generous grant has made it possible for the project to acquire up to $1000 per store. We need your sponsorships to make this happen! @binnaclebooks @oblongbooks @roughdraftny @goodbooksny @blueheronbooksny @stanzabooks @worldsendcomics

Happy Independent Bookstore Day! For the entire week, through Saturday May 2nd –– all Prison Books Project sponsorships via all of our partner shops WILL BE MATCHED thanks to a generous grant. When you sponsor a book for the project during Indie Bookstore Week, you are sending a book to an incarcerated person and effectively donating to the project at the same time, helping us to clear our backlog, etc. This grant is good for up to $1,000 per store, so help us rise to the occasion! @binnaclebooks @oblongbooks @roughdraftny @worldsendcomics @goodbooksny @blueheronbooksny @stanzabooks

Dear friends, this coming Saturday April 25th is Independent Bookstore Day. For the entire week –– from this Saturday until the following Saturday May 2nd –– all Prison Books Project sponsorships via all of our partner shops WILL BE MATCHED. A generous organization will donate to the project the value of each book sponsored. So when you sponsor a book during Indie Bookstore Week, you are sending a book to an incarcerated person and effectively donating to the project at the same time. This grant is good for up to $1,000 per store, so help us rise to the occasion! Whether you are a regular supporter of the project or have been meaning to sponsor a book and were waiting for the perfect excuse, this matching week is an opportunity to visit one of our several Prison Books Project partner shops and make a positive impact. Founders and volunteers will be posted up outside of Binnacle Books this Saturday, weather permitting so please come by, say hello, and sponsor a book. @binnaclebooks @oblongbooks @roughdraftny @worldsendcomics @goodbooksny @blueheronbooksny @stanzabooks

Another wonderful work party on the books for the Prison Books Project. Thank you to the @beaconlibrary for hosting us. Y’all are the absolute best local library anyone could hope for. It was wonderful to gather with some new volunteers, some recently returning volunteers, and some folks who have been with us from day one. We wrote notes for requesters and packed ~90 books which are off to the post office presently. One thing that came up this afternoon was the continued importance of direct, simple, material engagement in a world that feels increasingly fragmented, overwhelming, and even doomed. People need us. We need each other. We have to do what we can to be there.

Some amazing kids just sponsored a few books for the Prison Books Project at Binnacle. Even after years of running this project, it’s still touching and inspiring every single time someone takes the time to select a book for one of our incarcerated neighbors. And speaking of the years passing, we realized our info sign was a bit outdated. While it had previously said “we have sent over 4000 books to incarcerated folks throughout New York State,” we’ve just updated it to reflect current stats: it now says “over 8000”. Consider swinging by Binnacle or one of the project’s partner shops to sponsor a book for the holidays. @roughdraftny @worldsendcomics @oblongbooks @blueheronbooksny @stanzabooks

Week after week for years now we monitor that little PO Box and send off shipments of books to folks incarcerated in New York State. This particular picture is from 2021 and you can tell because that particular person is quite a bit taller today. THANK YOU ALL for making this happen — supporting us consistently for the last 5 years! By July 2021 we had successfully sent out about 500 books since starting the Beacon Prison Books Project. Today we’re sent more than 7,000. We like to share a little bit about it on here but please know that the work is happening ALL THE TIME and not just when you see a little picture of it on your phone! The revolution will not be Instagrammed. If you’d like to support the project, stop by any of our partner shops or donate via our website. Special SHOUT OUT to the all time greatest @uspostalservice post office in Beacon! Could you hope for better vibes or better service? Lucky little city we are, though shipping happens from a variety of spots local to our various partner shops. But this is where it started. #beaconprisonbooksproject #prisonbooks #solidarity #solidaritynotcharity #mutualaid #indiebookstores #massincarceration #prisonabolition #postoffice #usps #booklover #bookstagram #bookstack #upstateny #nystate #beaconny #hudsonvalley

At year’s end, each year, we send a personalized letter to each incarcerated person that requested a book from us during the year, updating them a bit on the project and sending our well wishes. This has been a big year for us so last night we stuffed 981 envelopes. To date, this year we’ve sent 2,262 books to almost 1,000 people incarcerated throughout New York State and well over 7,000 books total since the project’s founding in 2020. Getting those letters together is a lot of work, so we roll it into a little party to acknowledge and thank our incredible volunteers. This year, the amazing World’s End Comics in Kingston graciously hosted us for an evening of letter signing, envelope stuffing and stamping. Each letter is printed with a personalized comment about the person’s most recent book request. We also add a handwritten note of hope and solidarity. And additionally this year, we helped out the mighty @booksthroughbarsnyc project by passing along word of their recent address change to make sure everyone can stay in touch. We received donations of delicious and beautiful libations from a few incredible Hudson Valley businesses. Beacon’s Industrial Arts Brewing Co. and Kingston’s West Kill Brewing both gifted us beers and Dirty Bacchus in Beacon donated a couple of bottles of absolutely gorgeous wine. All of these businesses are the real deal: small, local operations that are producing and / or curating at the highest echelon of their respective crafts but who also know the meaning of community, none of whom have ever hesitated for a moment when asked to help support our project. We’re really grateful and we’d encourage you to check out and support these businesses, along with World’s End and of course all of our partner shops, about whom all the above could certainly be said. We got food from Kingston’s Mi Pueblito and we enjoyed absolutely incredible home cooked Mexican meal. Sending hope, warmth and gratitude to you all! • @worldsendcomics @dirtybacchus @industrialartsbrewing @westkillbrewing @westkillsupply @binnaclebooks @roughdraftny @oblongbooks @blueheronbooksny @stanzabooks @kill_no_tears @juliechibbaro @jwbottom @beaconlibrary

It’s Giving Tuesday and we’d like to tell you a story. So far this year we’ve sent more than 2,200 books to 965 people incarcerated throughout New York State. Before the end of 2025, we want to reach at least one thousand people. Today, we’re acknowledging two beautiful humans who supported our project in an unprecedented way this past summer. J & S contacted us in April after seeing our shelf at Rough Draft Bar and Books in Kingston. They wanted to include several donation and service opportunities for the guests at their reception in August in Red Hook, Brooklyn, including the Prison Books Project. We worked with them on an offering that would be meaningful to their guests, and would maintain the principle at the core of our project: creating a connection, via the gift of a book, between two human beings: one outside the walls and one within. We selected a range of books from the ever popular almanac and book of facts to Black’s Law dictionary. We also included the option to sponsor any other book requested. We mailed J&S a stack of blank sponsor cards for their guests to write the notes on. We often hear from our incarcerated readers that the personal notes included with each book can be more meaningful to them than the books themselves. Each wedding guest chose a book they wanted to sponsor, and wrote a note to the person who requested that book. This collaboration between BPBP and J&S’s wedding party exceeded our expectations. They sponsored almost $1,300 worth of requested books. Swipe to see all the books we were able to purchase with their donations (and one of our particularly adorable feline volunteers!) Thank you J,S, and guests for your kindness and generosity. Every year, our project relies on the generosity of hundreds of individuals who walk into one of our partner stores, pick up a book, write a note to the person who requested it, and buy the book for them. This simple act creates a connection between the community outside the walls and our neighbors on the inside. continued in comments