The national nonprofit Freedom Reads, in partnership with the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority (CHEFA), will send 42 new handcrafted bookcases to three Connecticut prisons this month.
They’ll be placed in cell blocks to create what they call "freedom libraries."
Freedom Reads Founder Reginald Dwayne Betts said the libraries' designs are meant to inspire hope in incarcerated people.
“We bring a kind of dignified presence into the space. Our design was meant to facilitate conversation. They stand about 44 inches high, and the books are accessible from each side, so you can have six to seven people around there comfortably at any given time, which means that it can become a locust for the community.”
Betts said the organization builds lifetime bonds.
“Several members of our organization have been incarcerated, and have been incarcerated in Connecticut, and the way that many of them came to the organization was through their friendships.”
After this month's openings, the group’s libraries will be available in dozens of prisons in 12 states.
Betts said that Connecticut's freedom libraries serve as a model for what is possible for the rest of the country.
