STATEMENT OF PHILOSOPHY: CENSORSHIP

​“As Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall wrote in Procunier v Martinez [416 US 428 (1974)]:
When the prison gates slam behind an inmate, he does not lose his human quality; his mind does not become closed to ideas; his intellect does not cease to feed on a free and open interchange of opinions; his yearning for self-respect does not end; nor is his quest for self-realization concluded.  If anything, the needs for identity and self-respect are more compelling in the dehumanizing prison environment.
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[…]Information and ideas available outside the prison are essential to prisoners for a successful transition to freedom. Learning to be free requires access to a wide range of knowledge, and suppression of ideas does not prepare the incarcerated of any age for life in a free society.” (“Prisoner’s Right to Read”, American Library Association)

Liberation Library was founded with the intent to provide books to young people in prison to encourage literacy, imagination, self-determination and connection to the outside worlds of their choosing. We believe access to books is a right, not a privilege. Liberation Library supports the intellectual and academic freedom of our readers, and believes it is essential to their emotional health and success for them to be exposed to a wide variety of material and information. Books inspire curiosity, learning, and exploration and by providing access to books we are committed to promoting the safety and well-being of our readers.