I love books. I was an English major at university and I believe a love of reading is the magic key that opens the doors of possibility for anyone and everyone. This year Gina’s Team was allowed to start three book clubs based on an idea called Changing Lives Through Literacy, started in Lowell, MA, many years ago.
It look several miracles to get it started. Miracle #1, convince the prison to allow it. Miracle #2, find volunteers who want to facilitate the meetings. Miracle #3, find the right amount of books for each yard. Miracle #4, convince the women it was a good idea. Thanks to Jeanne Robinson, president of our board, who took up the responsibility to make it happen. Thanks to Jessica’s Operation Orange and Penguin Books who donated books in multiple copies for the clubs.
The clubs started in February. Now we have dedicated volunteers who trek out to PV to keep the energy and momentum going for these women inside. I’m particularly grateful to Sara Dobie a talented writer, who just blogged about her experience. She has summed up the emotions and fears of every volunteer when they enter prison for the first time. Fear, trepidation and then elation. Thanks, Sara, for making a difference.
http://saradobie.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/my-time-in-prison/
Hello! We are trying to start a book club for female inmates at a detention center in South Carolina. I have a few questions.
1. Where do you get your volunteers?
2. Where do you get your books?
3. How did you get Penguin to donate books?
4. Do you have a written proposal I could read an excerpt from?
5. What activities occur in bookclub?
6. How often do the bookclubs meet?
Thanks for your time.
Angela
Angela,
Good for you. Our prison Book clubs are life-changing. Here are the answers to your questions:
1. Our volunteers are writers, teachers, retired activists, etc. Anyone who has an interest in this arena.
2. Our books are all donated. We are constantly collecting. Our goal is 12 copies of each book per prison unit. Each club has about 10 members.
3. One of our volunteers has a connection with Penguin.
4. Our book clubs are connected to our classes. You can only join the book club when you complete our ATHENA leadership class. Your proposal would be different. Every prison is different.
5 & 6. There is a staff officer on each yard who is in charge of the book club. They issue the books once a month for the members to read. The ladies meet monthly in the evening on the yard with one of our Gina’s Team volunteers who facilitates the discussion. Then the books are passed to the next yard for the next club to read. We have about 15 sets of books and are constantly collecting.
7. We also seek the DVD of the book if it’s available. A special treat is to allow the members to come together to see the film of the book after they have read it. To do so, they must write a book report first.
8. This program is led by Jeanne, an AMAZING VOLUNTEER, who organizes the other volunteers, keeps up with the books and the DVDs, works with the prison staff to make sure everyone has been security cleared, etc. It is a huge task but very worth it for everyone. Your garage will never be the same.
9. You might want to visit our website, http://www.ginasteam.org for more information about our organization.
Good luck with your efforts. I promise you will love the results. Please keep us posted.
Sue Ellen