Great Books in Prisons
Some of the most interesting Great Books groups to be found anywhere meet in prisons.
The United States incarcerates, in both number and percentage of the population, more people than any other country in the world, with more than 2.3 million individuals now behind bars. That's more than 1 in every 100 adults doing time in the United States.
The Great Books prison initiative is both practical as well as philanthropic. Studies done in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s show a dramatic decrease in recidivism when prison inmates participate in educational programs, and a comprehensive 1987 Bureau of Prisons report found that the more education an inmate received, the lower the rate of recidivism.
With the help of dedicated volunteers, the Great Books Foundation has worked to expand intellectual horizons for incarcerated men and women. Volunteers who lead discussions have included university and community college professors, a poet, an Episcopal minister, an assistant prison warden for education, and a librarian. These volunteers, who come from diverse backgrounds, share one central belief: that imprisonment should not bar one from reading and discussing great books.
Read about what our volunteers are saying.
Read about the history of the Great Books prison outreach program.
Read about the Tennessee prison program in action.
Prison Locations
- Delta Correctional Facility, Greenwood, Mississippi
- Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, Woodville, Mississippi
- Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (women's cellblock), Pearl, Mississippi
- Corrections Corporation of America, Metro, Nashville, Tennessee
- Riverbend Maximum Security Institution
- Lois M. DeBerry Special Needs Facility
- Tennessee Prison for Women
Current Funding Sources
- The Great Books Foundation (gifts through the annual campaign)
- Mississippi Humanities Council
- Middle Tennessee State University Public Service Committee
- Middle Tennessee State University College of Liberal Arts
- The Virginia Peck Trust Fund, Department of English, Middle Tennessee State University
We Need Your Help
If you would like to learn more about how you can contribute to fund our prison initiative (to help underwrite the costs of books and training), or how you can become a discussion leader in the Great Books prison outreach program, please contact Don Whitfield, at 800-222-5870, ext. 7138. Contributions can also be made through our bookstore. Thanks for your support.
For more information:
"Teaching Literature at the County Jail"
The Common Review 1.1, Fall 2001
"In the Penal Colonies"
The Common Review 5.1, Summer 2006
“Of Balls and Chains: Great Books Discussion Program Fosters Free Thought In Prisons"
Amity360.com, August 21, 2008
The Great Books Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations are tax-deductible.