Books to Prisoners Campaign

We are proud to announce our new collaboration with Books to Prisoners! Books To Prisoners ( https://www.bookstoprisoners.net/) is a Seattle-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster a love of reading behind bars, encourage the pursuit of knowledge and self-empowerment, and break the cycle of recidivism.

We believe that books are tools for learning and for opening minds to new ideas and possibilities, and engage incarcerated individuals with the benefits of reading by mailing tens of thousands of free books to inmates across the country each year. 

Currently, Books to Prisoners receive approximately 1,000 requests for books each month. The most popular requests are dictionaries, thesauruses, African American history and fiction, Native American studies, legal materials, genre fiction such as fantasy and horror, and foreign language learning materials (particularly Spanish). Other common requests include vocational-technical manuals, ancient history, scientific textbooks, art and drawing books (including blank notebooks), and books on paranormal phenomena. Books to Prisoners relies on books donated by community members to answer these requests, so please consider making a donation to help a few of the thousands of individuals who request books each year.

The United Crowns Foundation, Inc. is dedicated to help fulfill a huge gap in literature for prisoners: African American Literature & Authors. We are seeking book donations of African American authors and literature to include: history, fiction, non-fiction, spirituality, liberation, political, fitness, culture, economics, etc.

If you are interested in donating books, please follow these guidelines :

Limit your donation to 2 boxes of books at a time. If you wish to donate more than two boxes of books, please stagger your donation so that we are not overloaded.

Due to space constraints, DO NOT SEND THESE SUBJECTS: drama, short stories, literary anthologies, travel books, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, new age, young adult, or women’s studies.

Please do everything you can to avoid marking the books that are sent to us. Do not add stickers, remainder marks, or anything else that modifies the book – doing so severely limits the number of facilities we can send books to.

You can donate books to Books to Prisoners by mailing your book donation to:

 How to tell if your donation will be a good match:

Check the condition. Many prisons require “good condition” books and will return other books. Covers must be intact, all pages should be attached to the spine of the book, and if possible, pages should be relatively free of writing and highlighting.

Check the binding and inserts. Prisoners are unable to receive books that include spiral bindings, CDs, DVDs, or extra materials attached to pages (such as pop-up books). Any bookmarks or sticky notes should be removed. Please note: we are only able to accept paperback fiction books, though hardcover nonfiction is acceptable.

Check the date. Prisoners love up-to-date materials as much as everyone else! For many who are incarcerated, books are their best source of information about the world. If you are considering making a donation of books about politics, current events, travel, or technology, please keep this in mind and make plans to donate recently published books.

Check the content. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept donations of books including instructions about obtaining or creating alcohol or drugs, books including pictures with nudity or graphic violence, instructions on tying knots or picking locks, or training in martial arts and hypnosis.


Note: Please consider donating $35 with each box of books that you donate, to help us mail your books to prisoners in need. Our true postage cost for mailing a box full of wrapped book packages is approximately $70/box, so your matching donation goes a long way!

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at: 

info@unitedcrownsfoundation.org