

Prisoners Read More Library Books Than Do Non-Prisoners - cwpc
http://acrosswalls.org/section/communicative-structure/prison-libraries/page/4/

======
BillinghamJ
This doesn't seem in the least bit surprising. They have a lot more spare time
than us, and many fewer available things to do with it.

~~~
x1798DE
Not to mention prisoners probably get all or nearly all their books from the
library, and people outside of prison have many other options.

------
Fjolsvith
I spent over 10 years in prisons, over two stretches. My first bit was 2.5
years long and I wasn't much into books during that. My second one got me
thinking about what I really wanted for my life, and so I started educating
myself and devoured hundreds of books. Also, books let you "escape", if only
briefly, the stark reality of prison. Quite a few guys I knew loved to read
romance novels.

What Imaginenore said, about having one TV for a group is very true for every
prison I was in (6 state and 3 federal). That makes it difficult to find a
program you like.

Usually, an ethnic group or gang takes over the TV and everyone else does
their own thing. I DM'd D&D games for 4 different groups each week, and played
in one.

Two things that disbelief stated above were absolutely untrue about things
prisoners do: stare at walls and walk in circles. I believe he is trying to
suggest boredom-coping mechanisms caused by a lack of activities. In prison,
there is always something to do.

People can exercise with weight equipment. there is a yard you can walk a
track in, play tennis in, play basketball in the courts, play soccer or touch
football.

There is an indoor rec center with treadmills (usually), musical instruments,
art room (for painting, drawing), and lots of tables for card (or D&D)
playing.

As for book access, I found I could get any book I knew about. The library
services in the prison education department allowed us to get inter-library
loan books to read. Also, I purchased a lot of books by mail-order.

I subscribed to 20 different magazines of varying interest. I did that to keep
abreast of my interests, and also to pass them on to others after I finished.
I felt it important for the other inmates to expand their knowledge of
subjects. There are inmate magazine subscription services where I could get
magazines at $4 to $10 per year per subscription.

I had internet prior to my incarceration, high speed internet at a university.
I thought I would die of boredom in prison, but it turned out to be far from
the truth.

------
imaginenore
Cause they don't have access to Reddit and HN.

Imagine prisons had internet access.

~~~
therealdrag0
Totally agree. On the other hand it's interesting that inmates watched a bit
less television than the average non-inmate too though.

~~~
imaginenore
My guess is - they have one TV for a bunch of inmates, so it's hard to watch
what you want.

------
justin66
Given the pretty stark class and education gap between prisoners and non-
prisoners, the difference in percentages between prisoners (53%) and non-
prisoners (33%) in the "reads books daily" category is something I found a bit
surprising.

~~~
Fjolsvith
One thing that every prison I was ever in required was that inmates finish
their GED.

