Urbana-Champaign Books to Prisoners is preparing for their fall book sale at the Independent Media Center on October 5th from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. This is a major fundraiser for the organization, which provides free books to those who are incarcerated in Illinois. From the press release:
Volunteers at UC Books to Prisoners collect and sort tens of thousands of donated books from the local community each year. They answer hundreds of letters from incarcerated people each month selecting books to match prisoners’ requests. The shipping budget per month is around $500. UC Books to Prisoners puts more books in Illinois’s state and federal prisons than any other organization in the state. Since beginning in 2004, over 130,000 books have sent to nearly 20,000 incarcerated people. They also stock and staff lending libraries at the two county jails.
This time around there are added reasons to venture over to the sale: the IMC is having an open house with storytellers and tours, and Makerspace is hosting Heartland Maker Fest at Lincoln Square from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can have a full day of supporting IMC programming.
Book prices range from 25 cents to $2, though there will be some specially priced books. Cash, check, and credit cards will be accepted, and you can offer donations should you feel so inclined.
Photo from Facebook event page