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How to Send Books and Magazines to an Inmate in Florida
A book is one of the best things you can put in the hands of someone you love in prison. It fills the dead hours, it keeps a mind sharp, and it is a piece of the outside world they can hold. But sending one into the Florida prison system is not as simple as dropping a paperback in a padded envelope, and if you do it that way, it will be rejected and sent back, or thrown away. Florida has some of the strictest publication rules in the country.
I am going to walk you through it the way someone who has spent time inside would explain it to you, plainly, with the parts that actually matter. Get the rules right once and you can keep good reading material flowing to your person for as long as they are in there.
The One Rule That Trips Up Every Family
Here is the rule to burn into your memory before anything else: in Florida, you cannot buy a book yourself and mail it in. Books, magazines, and newspapers have to come directly from a publisher, a bookstore, or an approved book vendor, shipped straight from that seller to the prison. A package that looks like it came from a person's house gets refused. This is what the Florida Department of Corrections calls its admissible reading material rule, and the mailroom enforces it hard.
The reason is contraband. Mailrooms cannot tell a clean book sent by a loving mother from one that has been soaked, printed, or hollowed out, so the system's answer is to only trust sealed shipments that come straight from a recognized seller. It feels insulting when your intentions are good. It is also the rule, and fighting it just means your person does not get the book. So the whole game is ordering the right way from the right place, which I will show you.
Florida Scans Your Letters, But Not Your Books
This part confuses almost everyone, so let me make it clear. Florida no longer delivers your personal letters on paper. Regular mail goes to a private company called Smart Communications in Tampa, where it is opened, scanned, and delivered to your person as a digital image they read on a tablet or kiosk, and the original paper is destroyed after a couple of months. That Tampa post office box is for your letters and cards.
Do not send a book there. Publications are the exception to the scanning system. Books and magazines do not go to the Tampa scanning center at all. They go directly to the institution where your person is housed, shipped from the publisher or bookstore. If you send a book to the Smart Communications box, it will not reach your person. Letters to Tampa, books to the prison. Keep those two channels straight in your head and you have already avoided the most common mistake families make.
Where to Order So It Actually Arrives
Because the book has to ship directly from a seller, the easiest path for most families is a major online bookseller that ships the book itself. Amazon works for Florida, with one important detail: you have to choose a copy that is sold and shipped by Amazon, not by a third-party marketplace seller. On the product page, look for "Ships from Amazon" and "Sold by Amazon." A marketplace seller can look identical but ships like a private package, which is exactly what the mailroom rejects.
When you order, a few things keep the package from bouncing. Choose paperback whenever you can, since hardcovers face extra restrictions in Florida and are often accepted only when they come straight from the actual publisher. Pick new, not used. Select standard USPS shipping rather than a courier. And address it exactly the way the prison expects, with your person's committed name and their DC number, then the facility name and address. You can confirm the current facility and your person's DC number on the Florida inmate search. Order only the book itself, with no card, photos, or note tucked inside, because extras in a book package get the whole thing rejected. Send your card separately through the regular mail channel.
If you would rather use a service that specializes in prison shipments and already knows each facility's quirks, those exist too, but for most people a correctly placed order from a major bookseller is cheaper and works fine.
Paperback, New, and the Format Rules
Florida cares as much about the physical object as the words inside it. The safe defaults are simple: paperback, new, and ordinary binding. Used books are generally not accepted. Spiral bindings and hardcovers are frequently refused, because a hard cover or a metal spiral can hide contraband, so unless a hardcover is coming directly from the publisher and you have confirmed the facility takes it, stay with paperback.
There are also limits on how many publications your person can have at once, and those caps vary by institution and by your person's housing and custody level. Someone in a county jail awaiting transfer, in a reception center, or in confinement may not be allowed to receive books at all, or only a very limited number. When in doubt, call the facility's mailroom and ask two questions: how many books can my person have, and is there anything special I need to write on the package. Mailroom staff deal with this every day and a two-minute call saves a returned order.
Magazines and Newspapers
Magazines and newspapers follow the same logic as books. They have to come directly from the publisher or an approved seller, which for periodicals usually means starting a subscription in your person's name at the facility address rather than mailing copies yourself. Once the subscription is set up, each issue ships straight from the publisher, which is exactly what the rules require.
A subscription is one of the kindest things you can do, because it arrives on its own schedule and gives your person something to look forward to every month without you having to do anything after the first order. Stick to mainstream titles. Anything with nudity or sexual content will be rejected under Florida's rules, and a rejected issue still burns a month of the subscription.
What Florida Rejects, and Why the List Is So Long
Be honest with yourself before you order, because Florida rejects more books than any other state in the country. State reviewers have flagged tens of thousands of titles as impermissible, far more than any other prison system. The written rule says a publication will be rejected if it shows or describes how to make weapons, drugs, or alcohol, how to escape, how to commit crimes, or if it contains nudity or sexually explicit content, or if officials decide it threatens the security of the institution. That last category is broad, and in practice it sweeps in a lot of titles you would not expect.
What this means for you is practical, not political. Before you spend money, assume anything with explicit content, anything that reads as a how-to for violence or crime, and a surprising number of other titles may be turned away. When a publication is rejected, the institution is supposed to notify your person, and there is an appeal process through the literature review process, but appeals are slow and most families simply choose a different book. If your person has a specific title in mind, it is worth checking before ordering whether it is on Florida's rejected list, which is public.
Tablets and E-Books
Florida issues tablets to many people in custody through its technology provider, and those tablets include some e-books. It sounds like an easy answer, and sometimes it is. Be aware, though, that the e-book catalogs on prison tablets tend to be thin and lean heavily on very old, public-domain titles, and your person may be charged to read or rent rather than getting books free. So the tablet is a nice supplement, good for a classic your person has been meaning to read, but it is not a real substitute for sending the specific paperback they actually want. Use both: a tablet for what is free on it, and ordered paperbacks for everything else.
Free Books: Libraries and Florida Book Programs
If money is tight, you have options beyond buying. Every institution has a library, and your person can request books through it, though selection and wait times vary a lot by facility. There are also Florida nonprofits that mail free books to incarcerated people. Open Books in Pensacola runs a long-standing prison book project that mails thousands of free books to people in Florida prisons every year, and Gainesville Books to Prisoners does similar work. These programs usually work by having your person write to them with what they want to read, and the group mails a compliant package directly. They run on donations and postage money, so they are a genuine lifeline rather than a fast-delivery service, but for a person with no funds they are a real source of reading material. We keep current pointers to programs like these on our Florida reentry resources page.
Get It Right the First Time
Here is the whole thing in a breath. Books and magazines have to ship directly from a publisher, bookstore, or approved vendor, never from you. Send letters to the Tampa scanning address, but send books to the prison itself. Order paperback, new, sold and shipped by the bookseller, by USPS, with your person's name and DC number on it, and nothing tucked inside. Check a title against Florida's rejected list if you have any doubt. And lean on subscriptions, the facility library, and free book programs to keep the reading steady without going broke.
Do it right once and you become the person who reliably gets good books to someone who needs them. That matters more on the inside than you can know from out here.
FAQ
**Can I mail a book to an inmate in Florida myself?** No. Florida requires books, magazines, and newspapers to be shipped directly from a publisher, bookstore, or approved vendor. A package that appears to come from an individual will be refused, so order from a seller that ships the book straight to the facility.
**Does Amazon work for sending books to a Florida prison?** Yes, if you choose a copy that is sold and shipped by Amazon rather than a third-party marketplace seller, and you select paperback, new, and USPS shipping. Look for "Ships from Amazon" and "Sold by Amazon" on the product page before you order.
**Where do I send the book, the Tampa mail address or the prison?** The prison. Florida scans personal letters through Smart Communications in Tampa, but books and magazines are the exception and go directly to the institution where your person is housed. Sending a book to the Tampa scanning box means it will not reach them.
**Does it have to be paperback?** Paperback is the safe choice and what you should default to. Used books are generally not accepted, and hardcovers and spiral-bound books are often refused unless a hardcover comes directly from the publisher and the facility confirms it will take it. Always check the facility's limits.
**How do I send a magazine?** Set up a subscription in your person's name shipped to the facility address, so each issue comes directly from the publisher, which is what the rules require. Stick to mainstream titles, since anything with nudity or sexual content will be rejected.
**Why do so many books get rejected in Florida?** Florida rejects more titles than any other state, flagging tens of thousands as impermissible. The rule bars content on weapons, drugs, escape, crime, and sexual material, plus anything officials judge a security threat, which is interpreted broadly. Check Florida's public rejected list before ordering a specific title.
**Is there a way to get free books?** Yes. Your person can request books from the facility library, and Florida nonprofits such as Open Books in Pensacola and Gainesville Books to Prisoners mail free, compliant books to incarcerated people, usually after your person writes to them with requests. These run on donations, so allow time.
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