Books to Prisoners, a local volunteer organization, collects and sends books to Illinois inmates in an effort to encourage literacy and address the poor book selection in many prisons.

“Prisoners don’t have a right to library time,” said Suzanne Linder, one of the group’s volunteers and a teacher at University High School. “They are often denied library time as a punishment. We donate to individuals who can actually keep the books and not to the prison libraries, because literacy and having access to books is a fundamental right.”

Books to Prisoners receives book request letters from inmates and finds books that meet their needs, then sends them out with a personalized letter from volunteers.

The group also works in conjunction with the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office to staff a lending library in the county jail. In addition to donating thousands of books, volunteers staff the library each week and interact directly with the inmates, according to the organization’s Web site.

“Programs in the jail are really important, because they connect the inmate population to the community that they’re probably going to go back to,” said Nancy Griffin, sheriff’s office program coordinator, in a phone interview. “Programming inside the jail hopefully can provide some kind of intervention and prevent that person from coming back.”

All books are donated directly by community members. Champaign’s Jane Addams Book Shop, 208 N. Neil St., is among the book donors. The store provides books when the organization is unable to do so from their donated inventory.

“I probably donate every six weeks . depending on whether I have the books they’re looking for,” said Flora Faraci, the store’s owner, in a phone interview. “We are in the business . of getting books that people want to read. If I can do that, I’m happy to.”

The most popular books are dictionaries, accounting for two-thirds of the total requests, Linder said. Prisoners often also ask for books to help them obtain a high school diploma.

Books to Prisoners was established about a year and a half ago by a graduate student, said Linder.

The organization was later picked up by the Independent Media Center.

The group first started working out of a closet, but when the Independent Media Center bought the Urbana Post Office building, it became more organized, efficient and had more space.

The organization now has about 10 to 15 volunteers a week and sends out 120 to 125 packages a month to inmates, said Linder.

Books to Prisoners meets every Saturday from 2-5 p.m. in the basement of the Independent Media Center building, 202 S. Broadway.

Community members wishing to participate can attend any of the Saturday “pack-a-thons.”

“It started out as a requirement for my class,” said Rose Kory, senior at University High. “But it’s not a requirement anymore. It’s really rewarding when you strike up a friendship with a prisoner, because they have so little outside contact.”