As an initiative supporting our current exhibition, States of Incarceration, Levine Museum is participating in a book drive in partnership with the Prison Books Collective from Nov. 7 – Jan. 31, 2024.
We invite you to donate new or gently used paperback books to those incarcerated in North Carolina and Alabama. Your book donation will decrease the isolation of incarcerated people through learning and storytelling, give them a sense of connection to the world, and provide resources to those not often thought of.
How do I participate?
In-person: Please bring your paperback books to Levine Museum at 401 S. Tryon St.
Online: Order books from your preferred website and ship them to the museum’s administrative offices at 700 N. Tryon St.
Make a donation: You can make a monetary donation to the Prison Book Collective. Donations cover the cost of shipping books out to prisons, a process that is 100% supporter-funded.
Please read below for regulations around what can and cannot be accepted.
Rules: Paperback books only. Please, no hardcover, spiral-bound, or marked-in books. Books containing images of nudity, gang-related material, or anything about tattooing are prohibited. If you bring fiction, only bring sequels if you bring all the books that came before it, too.
Accepted book genres and topics:
(genres in all caps are in high demand)
- African American and Native American nonfiction
- Beginner’s computer science (only *recent* books)
- Books in Spanish, any type for general audiences
- Business and nonprofit guides
- Christian fiction
- Cookbooks
- DICTIONARIES & thesauruses
- DIY/LABOR (e.g., carpentry, automotive repair)
- DRAWING/COLORING as well as sudoku + other activity books
- Exercise/yoga
- FANTASY BOOKS (only bring sequels if you bring all the ones before it, and please rubber band series together!)
- Foreign language dictionaries
- GED prep books
- GRAPHIC NOVELS (no nudity)
- Homesteading/wilderness survival
- HORROR
- Large print books of all kinds for general audiences
- LAW (criminal + civil)
- MANGA
- General Psychology
- QUEER FICTION + NONFICTION (esp. with trans femmes and queer men)
- Sci-fi (only bring sequels if you bring all the ones before it, and please rubber band series together!)
- SELF-HELP
- Thrillers
- TRUE CRIME
- URBAN FICTION
- Western
We will deliver all donated books to Prison Books Collective, which will mail them to those incarcerated in North Carolina and Alabama free of charge.
Learn more about States of Incarceration and plan your visit!
