Financial donations
You can make a one-time or recurring (“sustainer” level!) tax-deductible online donation by clicking the yellow “Donate” button below:
You can also write a check to:
LGBT Books to Prisoners
and mail it to:
LGBT Books to Prisoners
c/o Social Justice Center Incubator
1202 Williamson St #1
Madison, WI 53703
(If sending books to this address, please read info on book donations below)
Please indicate where we can send your tax receipt if you need one.
Need help? Email us at lgbtbookstoprisoners@gmail.com.
Book donations
We are happy to receive book donations in specific categories. We’re particularly looking for:
- Mythology, occult, and alternative spirituality books
- Urban fiction, horror, science fiction, fantasy, and thrillers in new/newish condition
- LGBTQ fiction and non-fiction (especially trans, gay and bi)
- Dictionaries and thesauruses (English and foreign language, preferably softcover)
- Legal primers or other accessible law books
- Almanacs
- Drawing or art (preferably how-to)
- Coloring books
- Books in Spanish for native speakers
- GED Prep books
- African American, Latinx, and Native American history or nonfiction
- Yoga, stretching, massage, and workout books
- Business and professional development books
- Recent editions of textbooks (especially intro texts on economics, finance, or computers)
- Manga, comics, and graphic novels
- Sudoku, crossword, and puzzles books
It is more difficult for us to accept:
- Used-quality hardcover books in genres outside the list above
- Any books with loose pages, mold, or extensive writing/highlighting
- Heavy textbooks and outdated educational material
- Old/outdated fiction including used-condition classics
- Books with spiral spines
- Lesbian materials (we have an overflow)
- Women’s genre fiction, especially if white middle-class women’s interest
We vastly prefer softcover books in good condition (ideally new), but can send hardcover and used books to some prisons.
Please email us if you’re planning on making a book donation; we’ll provide more information about where to send or drop off the books. Please note that we are unable to pay for postage to receive books from outside the Madison area. We are a small organization with limited funds, which we use almost exclusively to mail packages to people in prison.
If you are unable to pay for shipping or have books to donate that do not match our needs, we suggest that you consider contacting another similar project.
Book orders and wish lists
We order out highest need books from A Room of One’s Own (a local Madison bookstore). Support us by sending us an online gift code. Use our email address, lgbtbookstoprisoners@gmail.com, in the recipient field.
We also have wishlists at Amazon.
Sending us a gift code or sending us a new book ensures that we can meet more requests; many prisons only allow new softcover books.
Thank you for thinking of us!