Literacy Saves Lives

When I was little, I used to sit in the closet of my father’s office surrounded by books. I would open them and look through the pages wishing I could read. By the time I learned, I spent the rest of my life catching up, reading as many books as I could.

I am a person who is not exceptionally intelligent, but who is fairly well read. Because I learned how to comprehend complicated text through reading, I went on to get a college education and to pursue and to succeed at my career. I am confident as a public speaker.

I realize I am lucky. In some countries women aren’t allowed to learn, to read, or to work. They can’t voice their opinions through a public forum. Freedom means a lot to me. Perhaps that is why I think about people who have none.

I think restriction from a full life is a terrible punishment, although of course, it can be necessary. But prison is not a stasis situation, nor should it be. If a shy average kid like me could be transformed through literacy, perhaps others could.

I certainly saw that when I taught English. Years later, I would read an email, “Thanks for turning me on to Ayn Rand, Ms. Randall.” Or I’d run into a student at the movie theater who remembered a book read in class. Others found inspiration in Shakespeare and in poetry.

I found inspiration when I read a book titled The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton, who wrote about being wrongfully incarcerated for over 30 years. He tried to arrange a book club on death row. Books and his imagination were his only escape from an unimaginable situation.

A mind cannot withstand an intellectual vacuum. Some people have been filling this need for years. My daughter went to college in Pensacola, and during a visit, she took me to Open Books, a consignment bookstore. Through a grant with the Florida Humanities Council, Open Books fills individual requests for books from prisoners. There were requests for mysteries, romance, poetry. There were requests for books on gardening and building houses, on electronics. There were requests for GED and SAT books, for dictionaries, and for books about the law.

When I got home, I thought about literacy as a force for social change. I decided to give away over half my books. I had 1200, quite a library.

It was hard getting hold of people in the prison system who could accept my donation. It took over a year. Finally, I was able to connect with several Central and North Florida prison librarians and educators. As I recounted my mission, I received more book donations from private collections like my own, from libraries, organizations, and teachers. Over 3,000 books are on prison library shelves and in prisoner’s hands now, thanks to the generosity of these givers.

Prisoners have time to read. Some prisoners study for their GEDs. Some plan for life when they are paroled. A better life. A freer life. Literacy changes lives.

Whenever someone donates a book, I say, “You did a good deed.”

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