Send Books and Magazines — Ask the Inmate
Books and magazines are among the most valuable items an incarcerated person can receive. They provide an escape from the monotony of institutional life, keep the mind active, and for many inmates represent the primary source of education and information about the outside world. But facility rules about how books and magazines can be sent are strict, and getting it wrong means the item gets rejected. This section covers the rules for sending books and magazines to incarcerated loved ones, why items must typically come directly from approved publishers or retailers rather than from home, what types of publications are restricted and why, how InmateAid's magazine subscription service works and why it is one of the most reliable ways to keep a loved one supplied with reading material, and what genres and titles tend to be most popular inside. The guidance here makes sure every book and magazine you send actually arrives. See also our sections on Inmate Care Packages, Send Inmate Mail, and Prison Jobs.
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The most meaningful gift you can send an incarcerated person is something that helps them escape mentally and pass the time with purpose. Inside, that almost always means books. If your husband enjoys reading, a book is genuinely the most valuable thing you can send into a federal prison. A few titles and authors that tend to resonate with readers inside: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson is the first in a gripping trilogy that
Read moreWhen you are ready to purchase a book on Amazon to send to your inmate, the key step is changing the shipping address before you check out. Instead of shipping to your own address, enter the facility's mailing address as the delivery address. Here is how to do it: Add the book to your cart as you normally would. At checkout, select the option to ship to a different address and enter the facility's full mailing address. In
Read moreMagazines are one of the best things you can send an inmate, and there is a wide range of titles that are permitted at most facilities. The rule that applies almost universally is no nudity. Full nudity disqualifies a magazine from entering most correctional facilities regardless of how mainstream the publication is. Playboy, for example, is rejected at most facilities for this reason despite being a well-known title. For magazines with a sexier edge that stay within what
Read moreWe have looked high and low for those titles. No one has a subscription listing for them. One is out of the UK and the other is "underground". Many other titles in this genre are available for subscription. the onlty advise we have to offer is that a high number of questionable adult magazines get rejected for the partial nudity going too far for their rules
Read moreAmazon is one of the only approved methods for sending books into most prison and jail facilities, but not every book listed on Amazon qualifies. This is where a lot of people run into problems. The issue is almost always third-party sellers. Amazon's marketplace includes both items sold and shipped directly by Amazon and items listed by independent third-party sellers. When a book ships from a third-party seller rather than directly from Amazon, the facility's mail room does not
Read moreMost facilities require that books and magazines be sent directly from a publisher or approved retailer, not from an individual's home. A package of books shipped from your house will almost certainly be rejected at the mail room regardless of what is inside. Amazon is the most practical option for most people. The selection is the largest, the prices are competitive, and delivery is reliable. When ordering, use the facility's mailing address as the shipping address and include your
Read moreSubscriptions do not automatically forward when an inmate is transferred. The postal system and the prison mail room are two separate things, and neither one is responsible for tracking down a subscriber who has moved facilities. Here is what typically happens: if your friend is transferred within the same state prison system, some mail will follow for a short window while the forwarding order is active. But that window is short, inconsistent, and not guaranteed for publications. Magazines and
Read more[Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_lc?node=283155&tag=inmatecom-20&camp=15329&creative=394453&linkCode=ur1&adid=1NK4T3Z8XDKYJ0S12D53&&ref-refURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.inmateaid.com%2Fpages%2Fdetails%2Fsend-books-to-an-inmate-in-prison-or-jail) is one of the only companies that may deliver books to inmates. You have to enter the inmate's name, ID number and the correct address of the facility. You have to buy "new paperback books", the used books are sold by third party affiliates and those books will get rejected. There are no other tricks to it, other than staying away from the other book sellers on the Amazon site that sell used books.
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