The group raises money with concerts and carnivals, letter readings and bake sales.
Though it takes only a few hundred dollars a month to keep the program running, it can only ship books every other month.
The program has no real structure. Inmates often learn of it from each other. Parents sometimes write on behalf of incarcerated children. Inmates often function as informal librarians, passing their books along to others.
Still, some institutions refuse donations, a decision Bruno says is largely subjective. She suspects some administrators question the politics of certain members. But the group's mission is apolitical.
"We are basically responding to a need. But I don't know if you can see that or understand that unless you are here with us," Bruno says. "And probably working as the warden of a prison or working in a prison mail room, you do not see it that way at all."
She understands the skepticism but shrugs.
"We are simply doing exactly what we say in our mission statement," Bruno says. "We are sending books to prisoners. That's all."
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Online: http://aprisonbookproject.wordpress.com/
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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