Since when do donors help you do the work of going into prisons to bring Freedom Libraries Inside? I mean help as in lifting heavy boxes to sort the thousands of books that live on the beautifully handcrafted bookshelves that Freedom Reads is founded upon. But that is just what happened at California Medical Facility (CMF), staff and supporters, together, opening Freedom Libraries for the sick and injured prisoners of CMF. Everyone there is surely dealing with more than just the sentences that keep them there. Add on top of that, the dozen or so strangers seemingly meandering through the almost gothic halls with prison escorts. And do not forget the push and pull carts whose wheels cried out for every inch they were employed to transport the mountain of boxes piled upon each one.
The Freedom Reads team got to CMF bright and early on March 2nd, 2026 and we were prepared to wait. Maybe not to wait as long as we actually did though. Still, we walked in with the usual positivity that stems from being immersed in the purpose of the incredible work that is changing lives through literature. March 2nd was a long day and we were back on March 3rd, where we were joined by our two gracious donors who wanted to see the work of Freedom Reads firsthand. After waiting the previous day we were prepared to wait again and the initial wait was not nearly as long. Pretty standard when dealing with large institutions with lots of movement. The waits are actually good because it means that regular movement is happening. So we waited a short time to move and then we waited a long time to move again.
It was a great opportunity to talk with one of the donors who I noticed was standing alone for a minute. We spoke and quickly discovered that we were both English majors with a healthy relationship with literature. From Connecticut to California and all else that separated us we were able to connect within the wait. Then the real work began and the team was dividing responsibilities and wondering how we would be able to accomplish what we must. It was then that our donors became our partners in the work. Sorting and unloading large pallets of books. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
It may not have been fun exactly, although I did enjoy it. There is a kind of harmony that I can sometimes find when a group of people working together on a difficult task fall into a rhythm that makes the work seem easy and quick. So we sorted and stacked 24 libraries' worth of books. Keep in mind how many books are part of each library and you can start to grasp the number of boxes we are talking about. We got them sorted and then loaded them onto carts and we were ready to bring the books to the units. CMF is a huge facility, so bringing the books to each unit was another heavy task.
Movement was not restricted, so that meant that there were always residents in the halls. The natural curiosity that comes from having strangers in your space was exacerbated by the carts and the boxes that invited eyes to follow our every move. All throughout the work up to that point it was just us, and now we were moving into the units where we were not always welcomed unanimously. That is part of the process that the Freedom Reads team takes on each time we enter a cellblock: turning skepticism into support.
The first cellblock that we entered had some rather expressive residents who must have been hoping for something other than books. Not that any of us could blame them for being unprepared for the gift of books that we came bearing. The bookshelves had been installed the day before, so we got right to the boxes and right there we saw the first signs of change. Brand new has a way of impressing upon us some feeling of value and being valued. Brand new is not a common thing in prison, so the gleam of book covers seeing light for the first time garnered some positive attention. The titles themselves brought about recognition and some excitement. It was a nice start and it was just a start cause not everyone was immediately convinced.
What truly changed the temperature in the room was the heartfelt sincerity that was passed freely from visitor to resident and back. Questions were asked and answered. Conversations about books were had and individual histories were glimpsed. Each passing moment we became to be seen less as intruders and more so just uninvited strangers bearing the gift of recognition. We see the residents and they see us. Freedom Reads lives for such moments as the value and power of literature becomes the bridge that connects all in any room. We welcome that initial tension as further proof of the mission that we are determined to fulfill. Freedom begins with a book, and our visit is often further motivation for our library patrons. It is most definitely motivation for the Freedom Reads team.
Our donors were experiencing this tension for the first time and they did so with such compassion and humility. I am sure that they were thought to be everyday members of the team instead of donors who were with us for the first time. They helped stack the books and place them within the bookshelves. More importantly, they engaged our Freedom Library patrons in a way that displayed their humanity and its ability to acknowledge the same in others. They got into conversations dripping with interest and even when it was time to leave there was one interaction that displayed how far we had come in the short time we were present. It was an amazing moment.
We had to leave to get to the next unit and there was one resident who felt moved to share some of his poetry with one of our donors and a member of the team. As they stood on the threshold of the unit, the three of them shared something that rings with a trust and conviction that when we are seen we are better able to see. Not only can we see what others are capable of, we are capable of seeing the same in ourselves, the absence of which is a sad state of existence. So we waited patiently for that precious interaction to conclude before we said a word about the schedule that such moments turn upside down. Before it all are the people we do it for. I sincerely thank our donors Ann and Jason for spending some time Inside with us, and doing so in such an immersive way.
Little did I know that donors immersing themselves in what we do would be duplicated in a slightly different way the following evening at San Quentin. March 4th was a night where Freedom Reads founder and CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts performed his one-man show, Felon: An American Washi Tale. March 4th also marked the day that Dwayne got out of prison twenty-one years ago. The event was open to the residents of San Quentin and many of them showed up to fill the spacious room that the facility so graciously provided for the occasion. Along with the Freedom Reads team, we had some guests and donors come to see the performance. Seeing the way that the guests and donors were interspersed among the crowd of residents made my heart feel good. They could have casually found themselves seated near one another, and that is not at all what happened. They sat and they enjoyed the show with the residents, truly with them. It made a great night even greater and hopefully left everyone else feeling as encouraged as I was by the performance.