1 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:11,520 Speaker 1: From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend. 2 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: Each week we come together right here and talk about 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:16,800 Speaker 1: all the topics important to you and the place where 4 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: you live. Thanks for joining us again this week. I'm 5 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: Nicole Davis. We've talked a few times here on the 6 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:25,919 Speaker 1: show about the efforts by nonprofits, community groups, and even 7 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:29,280 Speaker 1: local sheriff's departments to cut down on prison recidivism rates. 8 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:32,640 Speaker 1: Since the early nineteen seventies, the volunteers of the Prison 9 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 1: Book Program have been sending free books to incarcerated people nationwide, 10 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 1: including right here in the Bay State. Their aim is 11 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: to give people who want to change their lives the inspiration, education, 12 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:45,519 Speaker 1: and training to do it, and studies have shown that 13 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:48,880 Speaker 1: this approach works. The thing is, many prison facilities still 14 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: don't have proper access to reading materials, which is why 15 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,320 Speaker 1: the program says its work is still so critical. Kelly 16 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: Brotzman is the executive director of the Prison Book Program. Kelly, 17 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 1: it is great to have you here again. The program 18 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: has been around for decades doing this work. Tell us 19 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:05,560 Speaker 1: a bit more about the history and how it all 20 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:06,959 Speaker 1: came together in the first place. 21 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 2: Prison Book Program goes back to nineteen seventy two. It 22 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 2: was you know, sort of peak counter culture years with 23 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:23,039 Speaker 2: all of the rights movements, women's rights, gay rights, civil rights, 24 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 2: and there were sort of a group of activists who 25 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:34,399 Speaker 2: decided that incarcerated, you know, incarcerated people, just like other 26 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:37,679 Speaker 2: oppressed people groups, should have access to the kinds of 27 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:41,480 Speaker 2: books and literature that would allow them to reflect critically 28 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 2: on their situation and to take meaningful political action on it. 29 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 2: So it really started as an activist sort of thing, 30 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 2: But nineteen seventy two was really before mass incarceration as 31 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:59,080 Speaker 2: we know it in the United States really got rolling. 32 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 2: That would come in the eighties, and so very very 33 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:09,680 Speaker 2: quickly the project transformed from mostly sending political books, political 34 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:14,320 Speaker 2: and philosophical books behind bars to sending any kind of 35 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:18,360 Speaker 2: books behind bars. In that time period between sort of 36 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 2: the early eighties and the early two thousands is really 37 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 2: when our prison population in this country multiplied four and 38 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:32,080 Speaker 2: a half times, and with that rapid rapid population increase 39 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:39,920 Speaker 2: came a worsening of conditions inside prisons and jails. You 40 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:44,919 Speaker 2: just can't grow a system that quickly without seeing serious 41 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 2: deterioration in terms of conditions, So things like rehabilitative programming, 42 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:55,919 Speaker 2: educational programs, therapeutic programs really started to wither on the 43 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 2: vine in sort of the tough on crime era, you know, 44 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:01,119 Speaker 2: lock them up and throw the key kind of era. 45 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 2: And so getting your hands on books actually became more 46 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 2: difficult in that time period, and books still today with 47 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:13,799 Speaker 2: conditions inside prisons and jails, books are very difficult to get. 48 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 2: Even though most facilities have a library, it might not 49 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,400 Speaker 2: be open. Maybe your facility doesn't have a librarian on staff. 50 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 2: We're hearing from lots of folks that that's the case, 51 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:28,079 Speaker 2: or there's one librarian handling the entire state, so they're 52 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:30,440 Speaker 2: there like two days a month or something like that. 53 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:35,720 Speaker 2: And your library, your facility's library might be a rolling 54 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 2: cart with three tiers on it and you know, one 55 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:42,760 Speaker 2: hundred paperbacks. It can really be anything. And then the 56 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 2: important difference is between prison and jail. So jail, unlike prison, 57 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 2: jails don't have to offer any kind of educational programming 58 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 2: or really any kind of programming at all. And so 59 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 2: most jails do not have a library. They don't have to. 60 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 2: They're not legally obligated to provide any of services like that. 61 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 2: And half a million of the two million just under 62 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 2: two million people who are incarcerated today are in jail, 63 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 2: so we're talking about a quarter of the incarcerated population 64 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 2: potentially having no access to books, and so it just 65 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:21,280 Speaker 2: it's important for people to know that incarcerated people do 66 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:23,839 Speaker 2: not have access to the real Internet as you and 67 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:27,719 Speaker 2: I know it. Increasingly, they do have access to a 68 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 2: sort of device that has has can can access some 69 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 2: secure apps and so on, but it's not what you 70 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 2: and I know as the real Internet. So if people 71 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 2: are looking for information, if they're looking for resources for 72 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:44,480 Speaker 2: you know, personal growth, if they're just looking to travel 73 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:47,920 Speaker 2: to other places in their minds, use their imaginations, books 74 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:52,600 Speaker 2: are really where it's at. And so Prison Book Program 75 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 2: has been focused on getting incarcerated people the books that 76 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 2: they want and need to read. So we try very 77 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 2: hard to match the books that we send with the 78 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 2: requesters interest areas what they're looking to learn, what they're 79 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 2: looking to read. So last year alone, we sent about 80 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:20,600 Speaker 2: seventy thousand books to about twenty thousand people in over 81 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:24,040 Speaker 2: a thousand correctional facilities in all fifty states as well 82 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 2: as Guam and Puerto Rico. So yeah, we try to 83 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:33,159 Speaker 2: send everyone three pounds worth of reading material again, reading 84 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 2: material that they're asking for. So we respond to requests. 85 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 2: We don't just send books into libraries or anything like that. 86 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:44,600 Speaker 2: We serve individual readers. We're constantly explaining that we serve 87 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 2: incarcerated readers, not necessarily correctional systems. So we supply the 88 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 2: individual reader. The books become their personal property. They do 89 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:56,760 Speaker 2: not need to be returned. They can do with them 90 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 2: whatever they like. We're only able to do this because 91 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 2: of a library that we maintain that on average has 92 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:08,400 Speaker 2: about fifteen thousand books in it on any given day, 93 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,720 Speaker 2: about eighty percent of those are donated. They're just community donations. 94 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 2: People walk in, they come to us when we were 95 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 2: having a volunteer session in our space, They bring us 96 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:21,040 Speaker 2: their books, they mail as their books, they get their 97 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 2: books to us, they help us find new homes for 98 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 2: their books. And then there are some books that we 99 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 2: do purchase in bulk which are super super in demand 100 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 2: and would never come in enough via donation. And the 101 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:38,279 Speaker 2: classic example there is a college level dictionary that is 102 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 2: the number one request. It has always been the number 103 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:44,240 Speaker 2: one request since nineteen seventy two, So I mean, nobody 104 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 2: really has a paper dictionary anymore. No, they do. They 105 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 2: want it on their telth Yeah, so you know, we 106 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 2: buy for the dictionaries, for example, we buy by the 107 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 2: palette and when we do, we get a very very 108 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 2: good bulk price on them. Same goes for other fuler 109 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 2: categories of books that would just never come in in 110 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:08,800 Speaker 2: enough quantity to satisfy the demand, things like foreign language dictionaries. 111 00:07:08,839 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 2: Taking up the study of a foreign language is a 112 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 2: super popular hobby in prison, so things like Spanish English dictionaries, 113 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 2: things like almanacs are super popular in prison. Nobody has 114 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,560 Speaker 2: Almanacs on their shelves anymore. We have a super computer 115 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 2: in your pocket, you don't need one. So those are 116 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 2: the kinds of things we spend our book budget on 117 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 2: in bulk. And then we have other streams of books. 118 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 2: We have wish lists at about eight local independent bookstores 119 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 2: in Greater Boston. We're always looking to bring business to 120 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 2: those indie indie bookstores. And then we have wish lists 121 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 2: on Amazon and Better World Books as well. Those are 122 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 2: some online outlets where we have wish lists, and so 123 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:53,480 Speaker 2: all those wish lists all told, are great sources of 124 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 2: books for us. We also collect arcs, which is advanced 125 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 2: review copies or pre publication copies of books that bookstores 126 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 2: receive in order to promote books, but they can't resell them, 127 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 2: so but they're great for us because they're generally a 128 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 2: new condition, very good condition. So we have a whole 129 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:14,320 Speaker 2: number of streams through which books find their way to us. 130 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 2: But we strive to maintain a very diverse inventory. We 131 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 2: have a little bit in every section. It's basically exactly 132 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 2: what you would find in a small bookstore sort of, 133 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 2: you know, a shelf or two in hundreds of different 134 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 2: categories fiction and nonfiction. And we are volunteer powered. We 135 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 2: have just myself and one other person on our paid staff, 136 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:42,560 Speaker 2: So over two hundred times a year we gather volunteers 137 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 2: in our program space in Quincy Center. We can have 138 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 2: up to the thirty five volunteers per session, and they 139 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 2: are very frequently full in advance. We're very fortunate to 140 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:02,240 Speaker 2: have a wildly enthusiastic base of volunteers, many of whom 141 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:04,560 Speaker 2: have been coming to volunteer with us for years and 142 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 2: years and decades in some cases. So yeah, it is 143 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:13,599 Speaker 2: volunteers who do the core work of fulfilling book requests. 144 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 2: My colleague and I basically just make that possible, open 145 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:21,760 Speaker 2: up the space, keep everything stocked. So that's what we do. 146 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: Okay, wow, I mean this is it's a great idea 147 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:27,880 Speaker 1: first and foremost, but it's also important. But you know, 148 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:29,840 Speaker 1: I would be curious to know what you would say 149 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 1: to somebody who would maybe ask, Okay, these people are 150 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:36,360 Speaker 1: in prison or they're in jail, why should entertaining them 151 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:39,200 Speaker 1: or educating them be a priority? What would your response 152 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: be to that? 153 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:42,840 Speaker 2: Well, I generally have two responses to that. One is 154 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:48,120 Speaker 2: kind of the core belief on which prison book program 155 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:50,960 Speaker 2: is based, and that that is that reading is good 156 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:54,160 Speaker 2: for everyone. Reading is just a good thing to do. 157 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:59,560 Speaker 2: It's healthy. It can be just as effective as yoga 158 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 2: and deep breathing in terms of achieving calmness, dealing with 159 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:10,719 Speaker 2: feelings of distress. It is again a great way to 160 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:13,280 Speaker 2: learn more about yourself. A lot of people tell us, 161 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 2: you know, that they've basically books helped them through recovery 162 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:20,559 Speaker 2: or through an addiction, that you know, books helps them understand, 163 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:24,199 Speaker 2: you know, trauma and various kinds of things. And then 164 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 2: the second reactions that I have to that is ninety 165 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 2: five percent of people who are in prison are eventually 166 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:34,599 Speaker 2: going to rejoin us out here in the free world, 167 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 2: and they will be our neighbors again very often after 168 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:44,520 Speaker 2: long periods of incarceration. What do we want them returning 169 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:47,559 Speaker 2: to us? Like, do we want them returning to us 170 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 2: more educated, more thoughtful, more evolved, more developed as human beings, 171 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:59,120 Speaker 2: or do we want them to come back to us less? 172 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:03,319 Speaker 2: So I think you know one of the one of 173 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:07,120 Speaker 2: the things we know is that education is the number 174 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:12,680 Speaker 2: one preventor of recidivism. Yes, so the single best intervention 175 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 2: you can provide to someone during a term of incarceration 176 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:18,320 Speaker 2: to prevent their odds of returning to incarceration is education. 177 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:21,720 Speaker 2: And one thing a lot of people don't know is 178 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:25,679 Speaker 2: that the educational offerings in most prisons top out at 179 00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:28,760 Speaker 2: a high school diploma. So a GED or a high 180 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:32,280 Speaker 2: set a high school equivalency test is about as far 181 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 2: as the educational programming goes in most prisons. Again, we do, 182 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:39,960 Speaker 2: we have some college in prison programs here in Massachusetts 183 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:43,200 Speaker 2: and other states do too. Those programs are they're not 184 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:48,720 Speaker 2: everywhere by any means. They tend to be pretty isolated, 185 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,800 Speaker 2: and so self education is what people are left with. 186 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 2: If they achieved that that high school diploma, they didn't 187 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 2: have it, or if they had it before they went in. 188 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:01,480 Speaker 2: Reading and self educate is really the only way to 189 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:07,439 Speaker 2: further your education. And so since we know that people 190 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:10,840 Speaker 2: do learn a lot from their reading, both fiction and nonfiction, 191 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:14,319 Speaker 2: by the way, we know that we are by providing books, 192 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:18,560 Speaker 2: we are contributing to lowering the chance of recidivism in 193 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:23,120 Speaker 2: the case of any particular reader. And so those are 194 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 2: my two primary responses to that question, which we do 195 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:27,520 Speaker 2: get a fair amount. 196 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:29,960 Speaker 1: Well, I figured you would get that question, but honestly, 197 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:32,360 Speaker 1: you know, you're setting people up for success at the 198 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:35,400 Speaker 1: end of the day, and whatever way that looks like 199 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:38,400 Speaker 1: for them. If they are going to stay incarcerated for 200 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:42,640 Speaker 1: their life, this gives them something to essentially have a 201 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:44,520 Speaker 1: new purpose. But if they are going to be getting 202 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:48,880 Speaker 1: out cutting back on recidivism rates, It's incredible what education 203 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:53,960 Speaker 1: and a desire to push for something or learn something 204 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: and then pick up a new hobby. It's amazing what 205 00:12:56,840 --> 00:13:01,080 Speaker 1: little things can do to get somebody motivated enough to 206 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 1: say I want to try again and I want to 207 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:05,200 Speaker 1: do right this time. And I think that benefits all 208 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:05,680 Speaker 1: of us at the. 209 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:07,040 Speaker 2: End of the day. And I think a lot of 210 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:10,440 Speaker 2: people understand that in the case of nonfiction, like you know, 211 00:13:10,559 --> 00:13:14,120 Speaker 2: self help books or job related, career related books. But 212 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:16,559 Speaker 2: a lot of people don't know that there's an entire 213 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 2: science of reading fiction and what it does to people. 214 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:28,640 Speaker 2: And there's a very very strongly held academic consensus that 215 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 2: the primary benefit of reading fiction is empathy. Empathy development. 216 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:38,440 Speaker 2: And so people who say, oh, send me you know, 217 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:40,719 Speaker 2: fantasy books and sci fi books and so on, it's 218 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:43,880 Speaker 2: not that they don't want to learn, it's that they 219 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:46,880 Speaker 2: want to imagine, and so they want to go to 220 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:50,280 Speaker 2: other places, they want to understand other lives. And that 221 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:55,920 Speaker 2: benefits us as well, because the more empathy develops, the 222 00:13:56,040 --> 00:14:00,959 Speaker 2: less criminal tendencies, the less power that final tendencies have. 223 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:03,679 Speaker 1: You have a very special guest coming for an event 224 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:06,680 Speaker 1: on the twenty third over at More than Words, another 225 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:09,439 Speaker 1: wonderful bookstore that we have here in the Boston area, 226 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:13,120 Speaker 1: great independent bookstore. Tell us about Sean Ellis, a little 227 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 1: bit about him for people who might not know, and 228 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:17,600 Speaker 1: what your evening is going to be about. 229 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:22,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, Sean Ellis is the subject of the Netflix docuseries 230 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:27,280 Speaker 2: Trial for Sean was a very young man when he 231 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:33,840 Speaker 2: was wrongfully convicted for the murder of a Boston police officer. 232 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 2: Sean was factually innocent of that crime and nonetheless was convicted, 233 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:45,440 Speaker 2: And the title of the docuseries comes from the fact 234 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:52,120 Speaker 2: that it took four trials who eventually correct this miscarriage 235 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:58,760 Speaker 2: of justice, and Sean remained wrongfully incarcerated for twenty two 236 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:03,640 Speaker 2: years before he was able to finally be exonerated, fully 237 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:07,720 Speaker 2: exonerated of the crime for which he was convicted. And 238 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:13,080 Speaker 2: today he does amazing work with the New England Innocence 239 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:20,200 Speaker 2: Project directing the Exonery Network. Exonerations are not as rare 240 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:24,320 Speaker 2: as they should be. The system gets it wrong a 241 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:28,240 Speaker 2: certain amount, and so there are many exoneries in the 242 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,760 Speaker 2: Greater Boston area and the Exonery Network helps them connect 243 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:37,920 Speaker 2: and thrive and flourish post exoneration. So Sean is going 244 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:42,320 Speaker 2: to be the keynote speaker at our event at More 245 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:45,800 Speaker 2: than Words on Thursday evening, the twenty third. He's going 246 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:49,840 Speaker 2: to tell his story, which is incredibly moving and in 247 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:54,320 Speaker 2: many ways incredibly an incredible outrage, and he's going to 248 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:59,360 Speaker 2: talk about the role that books played in helping him 249 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:05,560 Speaker 2: survive and overcome his situation. And so there will be 250 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:11,120 Speaker 2: excellent food and beverage and people can purchase tickets for 251 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:14,800 Speaker 2: twenty five dollars on our website Prison Book Program dot org. 252 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:17,040 Speaker 2: It's going to be a great evening. 253 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:19,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, and this is a fundraiser for you as well. 254 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:23,960 Speaker 2: Correct it is it is we are. It's sort of 255 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 2: the first, you know, major fundraising event that we have 256 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:30,280 Speaker 2: tried to put together here at Prison Book Program. 257 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 1: We have. 258 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:36,800 Speaker 2: One hundred and seventy five tickets and where they're selling well, 259 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:40,080 Speaker 2: and get your tickets you know now early soon if 260 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:44,680 Speaker 2: you if you can. And yeah, we're we're hoping to 261 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 2: raise raise money but also raise awareness. Prison Book Program 262 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:55,480 Speaker 2: for forty seven years was run by all volunteers. There 263 00:16:55,480 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 2: were zero paid staff actually, and so for that reason 264 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:03,280 Speaker 2: it kind of remained for far too long, kind of 265 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:07,119 Speaker 2: one of the best kept secrets in Greater Boston. It 266 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 2: did a lot. There weren't a lot of people who 267 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:11,600 Speaker 2: knew about us. So we're also kind of trying to 268 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:14,320 Speaker 2: raise awareness about the fact that we exist, about the 269 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:18,360 Speaker 2: need for our services and just how important books are 270 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:19,679 Speaker 2: for incarcerated people. 271 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:21,480 Speaker 1: Sure, and I was going to say, let's get the 272 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:24,640 Speaker 1: word out right now about what you need. So when 273 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:27,800 Speaker 1: people want to send you books or drop books by 274 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:31,399 Speaker 1: to your headquarters. We are not talking going up into 275 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 1: Aunt Tillie's attic and grabbing every browned, brittle book that 276 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:38,280 Speaker 1: you've got and bringing it down to the bookstore and saying, hey, 277 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:42,600 Speaker 1: these are free books. Enjoy like yes, No, and probably 278 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 1: no like detective crime stories or anything like that either. 279 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:49,680 Speaker 2: Definitely no true crimes. Okay, we can't have any true crime. 280 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:52,359 Speaker 2: But you know, if someone loves mysteries, bring us all 281 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:56,760 Speaker 2: your mysteries. But yeah, thank you for saying that. We 282 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:02,080 Speaker 2: do ask for good condition paperback, so you know, moderate 283 00:18:02,119 --> 00:18:05,920 Speaker 2: signs of age are okay, But if you've got torn covers, 284 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:09,359 Speaker 2: broken spines, pages that are so brittle they're breaking apart, 285 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:12,720 Speaker 2: that's not a book we can do anything with. Not 286 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:16,480 Speaker 2: that it's not important to you or to anyone, but 287 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:18,640 Speaker 2: it's just not a book that the prisons are going 288 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:20,600 Speaker 2: to accept. So it's not a book that's going to 289 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 2: be able to make it into the hands of an 290 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:26,760 Speaker 2: incarcerated reader. So we say good condition or better focus 291 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:30,479 Speaker 2: on paperbacks. We have really detailed guidelines about what we 292 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:33,439 Speaker 2: can and can't use on our website. On the donate 293 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 2: books page of our website. But generally speaking, if it's 294 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:39,439 Speaker 2: a paperback in good or better condition, we can we 295 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 2: can use it. We do have the most popular genres 296 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,160 Speaker 2: listed on our website as well. They're ones that people 297 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 2: ask for all the time, and in those categories we 298 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 2: will take a good condition hardback as well. Oh, but 299 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:54,880 Speaker 2: definitely focus on the paperback. 300 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:58,040 Speaker 1: All right, great, and again you don't have to necessarily 301 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:01,320 Speaker 1: just go into the attic. You can go to local bookstores. 302 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:04,159 Speaker 1: You've got the Amazon wish list. There's a lot of 303 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,640 Speaker 1: great information tell us how people can get a hold 304 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:06,840 Speaker 1: of you. 305 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 2: The best way for people to learn more about us 306 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 2: and get in touch with us is via our website 307 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:15,399 Speaker 2: Prison Book Program DOTRG. There's a contact form on there. 308 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:18,400 Speaker 2: You can also come on by our space anytime we're 309 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:20,640 Speaker 2: having a volunteer session. Like I said, we're there more 310 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:25,000 Speaker 2: than two hundred times a year. You can bring books 311 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:26,720 Speaker 2: as a walk in donor. You don't have to be 312 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:29,720 Speaker 2: signed up to volunteer. Just come on buy. We're accepting 313 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:33,919 Speaker 2: books anytime we're there, and they can also sign up 314 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:35,919 Speaker 2: to volunteer. If you're interested in coming to one of 315 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:38,360 Speaker 2: our volunteer sessions, you can sign up on our website 316 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:39,080 Speaker 2: as well. 317 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:42,240 Speaker 1: Kelly, thanks so much for the time and congratulations and 318 00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:43,240 Speaker 1: to many more years. 319 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:45,479 Speaker 2: Thank you very much. We really appreciate it. 320 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:48,119 Speaker 1: I hope you have a safe and happy and healthy 321 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:50,960 Speaker 1: holiday weekend. Please be sure to tune in again next 322 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,919 Speaker 1: week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole Davis 323 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:56,720 Speaker 1: from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.