Justice Not Jails, an AU prison activism group, collected more than 500 books in a book drive this semester to expand the libraries in all wings in the D.C. Department of Corrections, according to Ava Page, a member of the group.
The group's goal is to use initiatives such as rehabilitation centers, affordable housing and education to mobilize convicted criminals rather than sending them to prison.
The book drive ran through much of the fall semester, from the end of September through Nov. 15. Justice Not Jails placed red and black boxes covered with incarceration facts at the entrances to all residence halls, Kay Spiritual Life Center and Mary Graydon Center.
"We're an organization critical of the U.S. justice system and aimed at promoting alternatives to incarceration," said Page, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs and College of Arts and Sciences.
The book drive could only use soft cover books because Central Detention Facility personnel consider hard covers a security hazard. However, Page said they plan on donating these books to the Prison Book Program, a grassroots organization that sends free books to prisoners, according to its Web site.
AU students and community organizations provided just over 300 of the total books the drive received on a vast array of subjects. The rest of the books came from Bender Library, which Page said was the most helpful donor, providing over 21 boxes of books.
"We received so many books from the library, we hardly needed to collect any from other organizations," she said. "However, we do plan on working with more community organizations for the next book drive."
The library, like the rest of AU, has a long-standing policy of contributing to charities. It already donates thousands of books every year to schools in Costa Rica, Papua New Guinea, Lebanon and Sierra Leone, according to Collection Development Assistant Maurine Nichols, who assisted the club in organizing and collecting books on specific subjects that others didn't donate. The donated books are ones the library receives as gifts but are either duplicates or don't fit in any specific section.
"These kinds of programs are really in line with what the library's goal is anyway - to connect people with information," Nichols said.
Education is one of the first steps in minimizing crime rates, Page said.
"There are ties between the limit of education and incarceration," she said. "The less educated you are, the more likely you are to commit a crime."
Giving prisoners additional educational opportunities is a good thing, said Eve Gatewood, a senior in CAS.
"It's the only way that one can change their status in life," she said. "So on that basis, anything that fosters education is a good idea."
Justice Not Jails plans to hold another drive at the end of the semester so students can donate their old academic books, according to Page.
Vanessa Verbica, a freshman in the School of Communication, said she would donate books to the next drive.
"The idea of libraries in jails is a really good idea because no one deserves to go uneducated"
