This is a collaborative piece put together by Kelly Jensen (Book Riot) and Sarah Lamdan (American Library Association), with the support of Tasslyn Magnusson, Stephana Ferrell (Florida Freedom to Read Project), and Arielle Haughee (Freedom to Read Project), as well as books to prisoners advocacy groups named and cited throughout.
The Landscape of Prison Censorship in an Era of Increased Book Bans
There’s no question that over the last five years, book bans in public schools and libraries have swelled. Intellectual freedom advocates across the country shared their stories and experiences navigating book censorship and pushing back against it in a recent report called ““We Need To Tell The Story”: Literary Advocates Nationwide Reflect On Five Years of Relentless Attacks on the Freedom to Read,” published in mid-September. Since that publication, PEN America has released a new report on documented book bans in schools during the 2025-2026 school year, showing nearly 12,000 books yanked from shelves and almost 35,000 documented school book bans since 2021.
What often gets lost or overlooked in the conversation about book censorship is prison censorship. That isn’t to say it’s being ignored–book ban advocates use prison book bans as justification to remove titles in public schools–but prison censorship doesn’t get the same attention or advocacy by the general public. The reasons are many and varied. It’s not as sexy to share with the general public–there aren’t, for example, cute caution tape displays of 1984 to post on social media. Nor are there opportunities to encourage individual action to buy banned titles under the (false) narrative that consumerism solves the deeper systemic issues of our democracy being stolen from us. But beyond that, prison censorship forces a much harder look at America’s history and legacy, including and especially the way white supremacy has built a culture obsessed with law and order. Copaganda oozes across the country, with television and movies rife with narratives of good guys–cops–vs bad guys–not unusually, someone who doesn’t have the power and privilege afforded in this country via skin color, ethnic heritage, social class, ability, and so forth.
The prison system is part of the legacy of slavery in America, too. Prisons are a reminder of how deeply racist the country continues to be, despite constitutional language and policies that say otherwise (though, of course, those have been dismantled at an alarming rate through the proliferation of racist executive orders pushed by the Trump-Vance administration). We need look no further than the ongoing kidnapping, torture, and relocation of our neighbors through ICE raids happening in big cities and small towns everywhere.
In the work by the organizations and individuals highlighted in the linked report on the last five years of book censorship in schools and libraries, advocates for intellectual freedom in prisons were also invited to share their experiences, insights, challenges, and achievements. The response by prison literary advocates was not only impressive but also served as an opportunity to highlight separately the unique challenges faced by justice-impacted individuals over the last five years.
While advocates may not definitively know whether the number of individual book bans in prisons has increased since 2021, as it has in public schools and libraries, one thing they do know is that the tactics employed by prisons to choke out access to literature continue to evolve. This imposes unnecessary hurdles for those on the inside and creates new, sometimes punitive, challenges for those on the outside trying to provide books and other reading material. Prison-focused freedom to read organizations face any number of hurdles in their work of getting books inside. Among them are opaque review processes, ever-changing rules–and enforcement of policies–decided by untrained or disinterested mailroom staff, and even fees for books returned due to any number of reasons. Who can and cannot supply books and meet the requests of those on the inside changes, too, sometimes without any warning to outside organizations. This creates additional, intentional barriers to advocating for those on the inside.
A significant part of the story of prison censorship in the 2020s is the increased presence of tablets within these facilities. While tablets theoretically allow those on the inside to access literature digitally, in reality, the situation isn’t that straightforward. Tablets are cheaply made and provided by companies that stand to make good money from their contracts with prisons. Access to books is frequently limited to what’s available in the public domain, deeply curtailing the types of books that those on the inside can read. While individuals may be able to purchase other titles, doing so often comes at a price they can’t afford. The beneficiaries of anything available for sale are the very same companies providing the shoddy technology to begin with. The spreading use of tablets isn’t just about the tangible elements. It’s also a means to reinforce the wall between those inside the carceral system and those outside of it. In addition to books, research, and educational tools that advocacy groups provide to justice-impacted individuals, there are less tangible benefits: human connection and the opportunity for those pushed to the margins of society to experience being seen and fully thought of as people.
One reason tablets took off within the prison system relates to the challenges that organizations helping provide materials to those on the inside (and not to mention the loved ones of justice-impacted individuals): the ever-present claim that books are an avenue through which drugs are getting on the inside. Officials claim drugs are tucked into the pages or bindings of books, and as a result, those materials become subject to mail bans. It’s a claim that’s become louder in the last year in particular, as both Arkansas and Texas attempted to halt all incoming books–even from approved vendors–because of the issue. It is but a boogeyman, though: it is far more likely that those working in these institutions facilitate the procurement of drugs on the inside, not the actual books.
Tablets are not only a cash cow for the companies supplying them. They’re also a tool of surveillance in prisons. Instead of traditional libraries where people can explore books without being tracked, tablets give prison administrators more opportunities to run surveillance on the people who use them. Unlike paper books and physical library shelves, tablets are loaded with tools to track their users. Spyware in tablets can report everything inmates do and highlight “suspicious activity.” They can create click-by-click tracking lists of prisoners’ searches and attempts to access webpages or apps beyond the e-book platform.
Despite the growth of anti-book ban laws passed across the country–13 states have Freedom to Read laws as of late 2026–these laws are not applicable in prisons. While California updated its state code in 2024 to tighten oversight of censored materials in prisons, the state has since seen an increase in materials prohibited on the inside. Exclusion in these laws is another reminder of how those on the inside continue to see their First Amendment rights ignored or forgotten during this era of increased government censorship.
There is some hopeful news on the legislative front. Several federal bills have been proposed to expand access to literature and libraries in prisons. In 2026 alone, these include S.4319 Rehabilitation Through Reading Act of 2026, H.R. 9986 Read for Reentry Act of 2026, and H.R. 7247 Prison Libraries Act of 2026. Several other proposals have been on the table in previous years, too, treading similar ground to protect access to literature behind bars.
Library services to the incarcerated have also faced continued challenges since 2021. While the American Library Association and its membership have done great work in updating the standards of library service for incarcerated populations in 2024, justice-impacted individuals still face the reality that their institutions have no libraries or, if they do, those libraries are unstaffed or understaffed. That’s not to mention that access to those libraries may be withheld for any number of reasons, including a lack of prison staff to accompany individuals to the library. As more research and efforts emerge around how access to prison libraries and materials that meet justice-impacted individuals’ informational, educational, and entertainment needs reduces recidivism and helps those on the inside retain dignity and build tools to help in their return to the outside, there is growing hope that more time and money can be put into supporting these crucial resources. One of the biggest bright spots is the San Francisco Public Library’s “Expanding Information Access for Incarcerated People Initiative,” a Mellon-funded effort to increase advocacy around prison library access.
Taken together, these hurdles create additional challenges for advocacy groups. If they don’t know what the new rules are and no one on the inside will tell them what those rules or policies are, they cannot properly adjust their services or advocate for the vital work they do. The lack of transparency in mailroom scanning means that an organization responding to a book request from a justice-impacted individual may never know whether their book reaches that individual, as the mail does not go directly to the addressee. Clerks review it first, and they’re under no obligation to let those organizations know whether the mail will be delivered. The individual on the inside, waiting for a response to their book request, may think they were never seen or heard from by the organization at all.
The landscape of prison censorship isn’t entirely bleak, though. More and more, people who do literary advocacy work are better understanding where and how their work can take justice-impacted individuals into account. There are more robust conversations happening about the state of prison censorship and prison library access, both as noted above in new initiatives and standards and, more broadly, through the tremendous work of outlets like The Marshall Project, The Prison Journalism Project, Truth Out, Scalawag Magazine, ProPublica, and more.
There’s also the growth of the annual week-long awareness and advocacy campaign with Prison Banned Books Week. Prison Banned Books Week boasts a robust team of partners, and organizers have worked hard to publish stories and experiences directly from those on the inside. This furthers the connection between those on the inside and those on the outside–crucial for advocacy and for better understanding the realities of day-to-day life in prison. Among some of the powerful publications shared during past Prison Banned Book Week events include “Free Prison Tablets Aren’t Actually Free,” “Mark Twain Goes to Prison,” and “Uninspired Reading.” Indie bookstores have also been tremendous in helping to educate and advocate for the First Amendment rights of incarcerated individuals during Prison Banned Books Week, through coordinated book donation drives and fundraising efforts.
There are several promising court cases moving through the justice system, too. The first is from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Grenning v. Key. The case involves an incarcerated individual who participated in a writing program sponsored by a state university, and whose short story was confiscated by a prison official upon submission to that university’s literary magazine. In the Sixth Circuit, Tubbs v. Payton involves an individual on the inside who sought a copy of a self-help book published by his sister, which the Michigan Department of Corrections denied him. The reason for the censorship was a brief and non-explicit depiction of childhood sexual assault. The First and Fourteenth Amendment rights are at the heart of both lawsuits. The Human Rights Defense Center has also recently filed a lawsuit against the Lancaster County (PA) prison over book censorship in the mailroom, as well as a lawsuit regarding similar censorship happening in Dallas County, Texas. The ACLU of New Mexico has also been working on behalf of those on the inside, filing a lawsuit against the state’s Department of Corrections for unconstitutional bans on books, magazines, and newspapers.
Independent bookstores, which serve as approved vendors for prison book services, are taking action as well. Firestorm Books in Asheville, North Carolina, recently filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for South Carolina alongside other advocacy organizations, alleging that the South Carolina Department of Corrections violates the rights of its incarcerated population by denying them access to books that aren’t being sent from specific large, for-profit distributors. In 2023, Athens, Georgia, based Avid Books sued Gwinnett County Sheriff Keybo Taylor and Jail Commander Benjamin Haynes for returning books mailed by the bookstore to the jail on behalf of friends and relatives of those on the inside. Avid claimed this was in violation of the facility’s own policy. Oral arguments in the case were heard in April 2026, and while the outcome of the case was rendered in favor of the defendants in July, it is worthwhile reading and a reminder of the ways in which advocates are doing good work–and are backed into a corner with the same excuses for why they can’t provide books to vulnerable populations on the inside.
It’s with tremendous honor that we share stories from the prison literary advocacy groups working across the country to provide reading material to those on the inside. It is deeply human work, helping those experiencing incarceration feel truly seen and heard by the world outside the prison walls.
In Their Own Words: What Prison Literacy and Literary Advocates Say
Survey responses from organizations that send books to incarcerated people across the country highlighted the special issues that impact access to information in prison. In Washington State, Michelle Dillon at Books to Prisoners Seattle said that the list of restrictions to library materials in prisons is “long, long.” Books about computers, books about Black history, and art history books–because of nude forms–are routinely censored. In prisons, book bans aren’t just because of their content. Books are also restricted based on their weight and whether they have hardback covers.
Mac Marquis at Asheville Prison Books in North Carolina says that his organization routinely sees prisons try to ban free books, entirely. In those situations, nobody can send books to people in prisons.
There is also a lack of transparency about book policies. The organizations that send books rarely know about new procedures and limitations until after they’re implemented. Fighting for access to books in prisons is largely done from a reactionary position. According to Dillon, this wastes money and time.
“We send packages successfully one week, only to be rejected the next week. To say that there’s zero consistency between prison systems–or even within prison systems–is an understatement,” she says.
Kelly Brotzman, the Executive Director of the Prison Book Program in Quincy, Massachusetts, says that “prison officials everywhere can become anti-book for any reason or no reason.”
Tablets make things harder for books to prison organizations to get reading materials to people inside prison. Dillon reports that the narrative about books coming in with drug-soaked paper has been used to replace books with tablets and prevent books from entering prisons altogether. Camy Matthay from Wisconsin Books to Prisoners said that her organization developed a collaborative relationship with Wisconsin’s Department of Corrections administrators to address a ban related to false drug trafficking narratives.
There’s also the issue of the large carceral system in the U.S. and the byzantine nature of prison administration.
“[Prison censorship] often feels like playing whack-a-mole,” Dillon says, “You stop it in one jurisdiction, and suddenly it happens two states over. Or you stop it, but a new administration comes in and tests the rules again, and suddenly you’re fighting the battle you thought you had won three years ago.”
The Prison Books Program is working on this issue by talking to prison administrators. Brotzman explains that administrators generally do not know much about the book industry, including “how books are published, and by whom, how books are retailed, and where.” These things are important to know when adopting book policies and practices, and without understanding the industry, administrators have “very little awareness of the impact of the policies they are adopting.”
The Prison Books Program plans to introduce prison administrators to the books to prisons movement and explain why organizations like theirs are the safest source of books for correctional facilities. Prison Books Program volunteers have also started using mailing labels with security features to put prison administrators’ minds at ease.
Asheville Prison Books is taking a different approach: using legal action to combat prison censorship. The organization, alongside Avid books and three incarcerated men, sued South Carolina over a Department of Corrections policy that only allows books from six approved commercial vendors to enter the state’s prisons. The lawsuit claims the rule violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments and unfairly blocks free books.
Plaintiffs in the case are receiving pro bono support in the case from Emancipate NC. This is something Marquis points to as an explanation for why there haven’t been more cases like this one filed yet.
“We often do not have the money to hire legal help to challenge bans that we know we can win,” explains Marquis. Marquis doesn’t think efforts to restrict access to reading materials in prisons will decrease anytime soon, either, and that they will expand to “attempts to ban all physical books in the future.”
Despite the relentless push of prison censorship, people are still eager to push back. Every time Books to Prisoners puts out a call for help, people respond. Dillon attributes the public response, in part, to more people becoming aware of prison censorship. Andy Chan, who sits on the Books to Prisoners Seattle Board of Directors points out that, when the censorship in prisons is reported in the news and discussed in op-eds, advocacy efforts improve.
Matthay says that press coverage also makes a difference in Wisconsin. Her group has grown because of press coverage and public support that they got in 2024 after a new restrictive policy was enforced in Wisconsin libraries.
Beyond news reports, the lack of access to information in jails and prisons has become a topic of podcasts and television shows with the rise of true crime media and programs like Orange Is the New Black.
“The more this issue enters the public eye, the stronger our cause becomes,” says Chan, pointing out that while the publicity is helpful, it also hasn’t made censorship disappear. He warns that, in some cases, public exposure led to Departments of Correction implementing more sophisticated and coordinated censorship efforts and reading surveillance tactics.
Matthay would like to see legislation that requires Departments of Corrections to meet the standards for prison library services outlined by the American Library Association. She would also like to see book policies implemented that ensure the safe and efficient distribution of donated books by trustworthy prison employees, as well as a reading for release program.
The whack-a-mole nature of fighting censorship in jail and prison libraries has a cost. Burnout is a concern for the staff and volunteers working to get reading materials to incarcerated people.
“It’s hard to see your hard work, and the hard work of coalitions, unravel time and again for no good reason,” Dillon says.
And Marquis described another depressing aspect of censorship in prison libraries and one not discussed much at all. Asheville Prison Books has received book donations from teachers whose school libraries were banning material.
Brotzman suggests that groups work together instead of going it alone.
“We have done more networking with similar books to prisons nonprofits across the country, and we’ve had some success when we band together to push back against highly restrictive book policies,” she explains.
Chan agrees, adding that freedom to read advocates across all spaces continue building coalitions and networking with one another. This is the time to use the momentum and use it wisely.
“Be bold, brave, AND smart,” he says.
The Work Is Far From Over: Further Action and Reading
The most impactful actions anyone can take to help support the work of prison literary advocates is to bone up on what the landscape of prison censorship looks like and to share the good work being done by these organizations. This can take the form of sharing stories or experiences with your networks, as much as it can look like getting involved with a local or national organization providing books and other materials to those on the inside.
There are numerous forms of books to prisoner initiatives. They range from being location-based–Seattle Books to Prisoners, Chicago Books to Prisoners, etc.–to focusing on serving a specific population on the inside–women, LGBTQ+ people, and others. The Prison Book Program, out of Quincy, Massachusetts, maintains a robust list of Books to Prisoner organizations across the country. They also have a fantastic pair of resources for those who are experiencing incarceration and/or are loved ones of those on the inside. The National Prisoner Resource List helps connect people with advocacy organizations, and they have a request form for books to be sent to prisons nationwide (with limitations noted).
Prison writing programs play a pivotal role in preserving the First Amendment rights of those on the inside–not to mention encouraging them to share their voices and creativity. Many of these organizations not only work with those on the inside. They share the work with readers on the outside, fostering a bridge between two very different worlds. It is humanizing work. Among the prison writing programs to know about include the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, the Prison Censorship Project, PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writing program, and numerous others that can be accessed via the Prison Activist Resource Center’s searchable database.
The American Library Association has an interest group dedicated to library services for the justice involved with a list-serv, interpretations of the ALA code of ethics detailing the prisoner’s right to read, and other resources for library professionals, students, correctional staff, volunteers, or anyone who serves the underserved in correctional settings or justice-involved individuals.
For more reading on prison censorship, explore the following selected pieces published over the last five years:
- “The Books Banned in Your State’s Prisons” from The Marshall Project
- “Censorship Beyond Book Bans in Prison: A Slave Master Mentality” by Michael Kimball
- “Censorship in Prison: Fulfilling the Writ of Librarianship” by Aaron Blumberg
- “Request Denied (Again): Navigating Prison Censorship from the Outside” by Aaron Blumberg
- “Anti-Censorship Legislation: Prisons Need Not Apply” by Aaron Blumberg
- “We Can’t Forget People Experiencing Incarceration in Our Fight for Readers’ Rights” by Michelle Dillon
- “America’s Unseen Book Bans: The Long History of Censorship in Prisons” by Antoine Davis and Kevin Light-Roth
- “Prison Censorship Goes Beyond Book Bans” by Troy Chapman
- “Ending Censorship Applies to Prison, Too” by Kelly Jensen
- “This Technology Was Supposed to Help People in Prison. It’s Backfiring in a Big Way.” by Moira Marquis
- “Illinois Outlaws Book Bans—But Not for Incarcerated People” by Gretchen Sterba
- “The Circuitous Reach of Carceral Censorship” by Ragnhild Utheim and Michelle Ronda
- “How Prison Book Bans Dwarf All Other Censorship” by Moira Marquis
- “The Ever-Growing Challenges of Getting Books Into Prisons” by Leah Rachel van Essen
- “Banning the Caged Bird: Prison Book Censorship Across America” from the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center (2021)
You can also check out resources like Books to Books, a collection of book reviews written by people who are or have been incarcerated, compiled by Wisconsin Books to Prisoners from letters sent to the organization by people who have received books through the program and wrote back to say what they thought of them..
This is but the tip of the iceberg, of course. Further reading, resources, and actions are presented throughout this report. A big thank you to every organization who helped pull this together, including and especially Michelle Dillon from Seattle Books to Prisoners.
Book Censorship News for October 23, 2026
- Libraries and booksellers have requested a rehearing in the Eighth Circuit over the passage of the massive book banning law allowed to be implemented in the state.
- Palm Beach County Schools (FL) have removed 1800 books–many of which were solicited via the use of AI–”for review,” following the memo from the state’s education commissioner. That commissioner is not elected, and the demands in the memo were but threats, rather than anything related to the actual state law. It’s not local control if the books were never challenged locally, but their removal was demanded by the state.
- Escambia County Schools (FL) also went ahead and banned over 250 more titles. Again: it’s not local control if the books were never challenged locally, but their removal was demanded by the state.
- Minnesota banned book bans, but one school in the state accounted for 80 titles being removed last school year. Here’s where and how it happened.
- “Oklahoma’s top school board has been ordered to reconsider its decision to revoke the teaching license of a former Norman High School teacher who posted a QR code in her classroom linking to a library catalogue containing banned books.” Summer Boismier’s story continues.
- Councilman Conor Sweeney of Peapack-Gladstone (NJ) still thinks the library should pull out of their consortium because community members can request LGBTQ+ books from those libraries.
- In good news, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Escambia County (FL) school board members have to testify about banning books in their case. They don’t get to hide.
- Dallas Independent School District (TX) will begin reviewing hundreds of books following the threats from the current state lieutenant governor.
- The Texas Comptroller plans on wasting taxpayer money on investigating books in several state school districts. That’s your taxpayer money, if you’re a Texan, being used for this gross fixation on children and children’s genitals.
- You won’t be shocked to hear about how one coalition of Christian schools have an ambitious growth plan over the next few years, all thanks to now having access to your taxpayer money via school vouchers.
- Fifteen months since Rhode Island passed its freedom to read law, advocates who helped get it passed are demanding the government actually implement it.
- A project from Transparent New Hampshire has allowed the state’s news collective to unearth what books were being challenged at districts throughout the state over the last few years.
- 32 books were banned from Jefferson County Schools (TN). The list of titles is included here.
- Farmville Public Library (NC) has dropped the logo they’ve been using for 14 years because a few people thought it looked too much like a rainbow. This story reminds me of when in 2022 Montana State Library had to change their new logo because state officials thought it was too much like a rainbow, too. Rainbows are too much for these people.
- After the Readington School District (NJ) refused to accept that the committee reviewing The Perks of Being a Wallflower wanted to keep the book in the district, parents are now asking them to let the decision stand.