How to Send Books and Magazines to an Inmate in Delaware

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Internal links: Delaware inmate search, send money, visitation, Staying Connected hub, Delaware reentry resources

NOTE: Filtered out Delaware County PA and Delaware County Jail Indiana sources - those are NOT Delaware state DOC. Used genuine DE DOC sources only.

How to Send Books and Magazines to an Inmate in Delaware

A good book is one of the most valuable things you can put in the hands of someone you love inside a Delaware prison. It fills the long, empty hours, it keeps the mind working, and it is a piece of the outside world they get to hold. Delaware recently changed how it handles incoming mail, which trips up families who do not know the new setup, so let me walk you through what actually works.

I am going to explain it the way someone who has done time would, plainly and without the runaround.

The One Rule That Trips Up Every Family

Start here. In Delaware you cannot buy a book yourself and put it in the mail. Books, magazines, and newspapers must be sent directly from a publisher, a bookstore, or an approved vendor, shipped straight from that seller to the prison. A package that looks like it came from a person's home gets refused.

The reason is contraband, especially drugs sprayed or soaked onto paper, which is exactly what drove Delaware to overhaul its mail system. A mailroom cannot tell a clean book from a tampered one, so the system only trusts shipments straight from a recognized seller.

Delaware Scans Your Letters, But Not Your Books

This is the change that confuses people, so get it straight. As of April 15, 2024, Delaware uses a centralized mail scanning system for all its prisons. Your personal letters, cards, drawings, and photos no longer go to the prison. They go to a central mail center operated by a contracted vendor, where they are opened, scanned into a digital color copy, and delivered to your person on their tablet, while the paper originals are stored briefly and then destroyed, not returned. Personal mail must be in a plain white envelope with a return address, your person's name, and their SBI number.

But do not send a book to that scanning center. Publications are handled separately. Books and magazines still come from a publisher or bookstore and go to the facility, not to the personal-mail scanning center. Because Delaware centralized things recently, the single most important step is to confirm the correct address for publications, the facility versus the mail center, before you order. Letters to the scanning center, books to where the facility directs. Get that split right and you avoid the most common Delaware mistake.

Where to Order So It Actually Arrives

Because a book has to ship directly from a seller, the simplest path for most families is a major online bookseller that ships the book itself. Amazon works for Delaware. Choose a copy that is sold and shipped by Amazon, not by a third-party marketplace seller, since a marketplace order ships like a private package and gets rejected. On the listing, look for "Ships from Amazon" and "Sold by Amazon."

Address it to your person with their full name and SBI number, then the facility or publication address the DOC specifies, which you can pair with the facility shown on Delaware's inmate search. Choose new and paperback, and send the book by itself with no card or note tucked inside, since extras get a package rejected. Send your letters separately, to the scanning center.

New, Paperback, and Format

Stick to new paperbacks. Delaware does not accept used books, and hardcovers are restricted, generally accepted only when they come straight from the publisher, so paperback is the safe default. Spiral bindings are typically refused because the metal can conceal contraband. If a title only exists in hardcover, confirm with the facility before ordering, otherwise choose the paperback edition.

Delaware may also limit how many publications your person can receive or keep within a given period, and some systems draw a distinction between books from a bookstore, which can be capped, and books straight from the publisher, which may be less restricted. Because these limits vary, confirm the current numbers with the facility before sending a stack.

Magazines and Newspapers

Magazines and newspapers follow the same rule: they must come directly from the publisher, which for periodicals means a subscription in your person's name. Expect the first issue to take a while, since subscription fulfillment plus mailroom processing can run several weeks before the first one lands. After that, each issue arrives on its own.

A subscription is one of the kindest things you can set up, arriving on its own schedule. Stick to mainstream titles, since sexually explicit content will be rejected.

What Delaware Rejects

Before you spend money, know what gets turned away. Delaware refuses publications that contain pornography or sexual content, that promote violence, hate, or discrimination, that encourage insubordination, that present a security risk, or that contain weapons, explosives, or drug-related instructions. If a publication is rejected, your person is notified with the reason. If your person wants a specific title, a quick check that it does not run into these content rules saves money.

One System, One Set of Rules

Delaware runs a unified system, meaning the Department of Correction operates both the facilities that hold people awaiting trial and those holding sentenced people, with the difference largely a matter of sentence length rather than separate county jails. The practical benefit is that the same statewide rules generally follow your person from one facility to another, so you do not have to relearn everything when they move. Use their SBI number on everything, since that is the identifier Delaware relies on.

Tablets and E-Books

Because Delaware delivers your scanned letters to a tablet, your person already uses one, provided through the state's tablet vendor. Tablets may also carry some e-books and media. As elsewhere, the catalogs are limited and can carry charges, so treat the tablet as a supplement and keep sending the specific paperbacks your person actually wants.

Free Books: Libraries and Book Programs

If money is tight, you still have options. Every facility has a library your person can request from. There are also nonprofit book programs that mail free books to incarcerated people, shipping from a recognized organization rather than from an individual, usually after your person writes to them with a request. These run on donations, so allow time. We keep current pointers to programs that serve Delaware on our Delaware reentry resources page.

Get It Right the First Time

Here is the whole thing in a breath. Books and magazines must ship directly from a publisher or bookstore, never from you. Send your letters to Delaware's central scanning center in a white envelope with the SBI number, but send books to where the facility directs, and confirm that publication address before ordering since Delaware centralized its mail in 2024. Order new, paperback, sold and shipped by the bookseller, with your person's name and SBI number and nothing tucked inside. Use InmateAid for magazine subscriptions, and lean on the library and book programs to keep the reading steady.

Get it right and you become the person who reliably gets good books to someone who needs them. On the inside, that means more than you can know from out here.

FAQ

**Can I mail a book to a Delaware inmate myself?** No. Books, magazines, and newspapers must be sent directly from a publisher, bookstore, or approved vendor, shipped straight to the facility. A package that appears to come from an individual will be refused.

**Where do I send a book, the scanning center or the prison?** Not the scanning center. Since April 15, 2024, Delaware scans personal letters at a central mail center, but books and magazines are handled separately and go to the facility. Confirm the correct publication address with the facility before ordering, and send only personal letters to the scanning center.

**Does Amazon work for sending books to a Delaware prison?** Yes. Choose a copy that is sold and shipped by Amazon rather than a third-party marketplace seller, in paperback and new condition. Look for "Ships from Amazon" and "Sold by Amazon" on the listing.

**Does it have to be paperback and new?** Yes, paperback and new are the safe choices. Delaware does not accept used books, hardcovers are generally accepted only directly from the publisher, and spiral bindings are refused. Confirm with the facility if only a hardcover exists.

**How do I send a magazine?** Set up a subscription in your person's name shipped directly from the publisher. InmateAid can set this up for you. Expect the first issue to take several weeks, and stick to mainstream titles since sexually explicit content is rejected.

**What gets a book rejected in Delaware?** Pornography or sexual content, material promoting violence, hate, or discrimination, content encouraging insubordination, anything posing a security risk, and weapons, explosives, or drug-related instructions. Your person is notified with the reason for a rejection.

**What is the SBI number?** It is the identifier Delaware uses for each incarcerated person, and you need it on all mail and publications, along with their full name and the correct facility. You can confirm the facility on Delaware's inmate search.

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