Alternatives library holding fundraiser for core program, Prisoner Express

For years Gary Fine has operated Prisoner Express out of the Durland Alternatives Library in Anabel Taylor Hall on the Cornell University campus. The project works to provide books and educational materials to prisoners across the country and has only been growing since the library moved into a larger space. A project that once operated on a few student volunteers and Fine has expanded into a small army of more volunteers who now oversee even more volunteers. The project has always operated on a shoestring budget, and the library has always been an eager and willing partner, but now it’s time for Fine and Prisoner Express to ask the community for some help.

Friday, Nov. 29, the library will host a dinner, as they have done several times in the past. This time, it’s not just a community gathering. It’s a fundraiser and a celebration of all that the library has to offer. Durland is home to a number of exciting and interesting programs and projects that involve the community, but Prisoner Express is by far it’s largest, and the program has seen exponential growth since the library moved across the hall to a larger space that can accommodate more volunteers.

“As we do this, our mission has grown in some way from not only providing the prisoners with this information, education, creative self-expression, but we’re providing students with this opportunity, through the library, to get involved in a social justice project that’s meaningful and educates them about the effects of the prison system,” said Fine. “It takes a lot of energy and time to manage all of the data we’re generating and all of the database work that we have to do to manage the many thousands of people who are writing us now.”

Now, Prisoner Express needs more funding to sustain the growth it has seen. It’s easy to see the impact that the project has when reading the letters that prisoners send in, explaining the impact it has had on their lives. The entire project started with one such letter. Fine, while working at the library years ago, received a request from a prisoner for books. After sending him a few used books, Fine received a letter of thanks that he never expected. The experience opened his eyes to the isolation that prisoners often feel, and the impact that something as simple as a book can have on a person’s life.

Now, Prisoner Express sends out books, a newsletter, educational packets put together by local professors and teachers, and coordinates art projects, among numerous other aspects of the program. These letters, books, packets, and newsletters are sent to thousands of prisoners each week. But it takes an incredible amount of coordination just to get the materials into the prisons. Some prisons don’t allow materials on colored paper, others don’t allow anything with staples. The rules go on and on.

“We’re finding all kinds of little rules that keep the information from getting in,” Fine said. “So, we’re having to invest more time and energy into talking to each state department of corrections to find out ‘Oh, it can’t have yellow paper,’ or ‘Oh it can’t be more than 16 sheets,’ or ‘Oh you can’t use a mailing label,’ or ‘Oh staples are not allowed.’”

While the fundraiser dinner will showcase some of the art and writing from prisoners sent in through Prisoner Express, the money raised will go to the many programs that the library puts on. The “Many Worlds Are Possible” dinner will be held at the library on Thursday, Nov. 29, from 6 to 9 p.m. Fine wants interested parties to know that donations are not required for the dinner, but they are requested. As much as possible the library tries to avoid making funds a barrier to participation in the library offerings.

While the dinner will highlight many of the programs available through the library, there will also be an explanation of the different ways that people can help support those programs. Along with taking donations, the library is also starting a membership program. The library is free and open to the public and will remain that way. Members will have the opportunity to receive special mailings, prizes, and opportunities from the library, and Fine hopes the program will encourage people to give on a monthly basis.

“When you think about what $10 a month can buy, and if you can afford it, that would make a huge difference,” Fine said. “And us being able to deliver the services and do the things we’re doing.”

The Prisoner Express program alone has seen a growth of 6,000 prisoners enrolling in what the program has to offer in the last six months, according to a recent newsletter from Ryan Clover Owens, the library’s director.