by Ata Shaheen for the Kitsap Sun, originally published Dec. 3, 2021:
Suzanne Selfors, owner of Liberty Bay Books in Poulsbo[,WA], stands in her shop with Ken McDouall, Branch Librarian at Washington Corrections Center for Women. They are working together to provide new books to the incarcerated women at WCCW. photo by Ata Shaheen for the Kitsap Sun.
This is the second year Liberty Bay Books has . . . held a drive, last year providing hundreds of new books to the prison library.
The library plays a vital role in the lives of many of those incarcerated women, said Ken McDouall, Washington Corrections Center for Women branch librarian. It is a place for both education and recreation.
. . .
“Our book-buying budget is never big enough, at least as far as I’m concerned,” McDouall said.
McDouall is compiling a list to send to Suzanne Selfors, owner of Liberty Bay Books, who will work with donors to fulfill the list.
Selfors and McDouall said it’s important that incarcerated people get access to new material.
“Ken has a really incredibly important job in my mind,” Selfors said. “It’s important that they get brand new, right off the shelves, pristine books.”
“On a very basic level, it helps to connect people to the outside world,” McDouall said.
New books can keep the women in touch with changing culture in the society they are expelled from, especially in popular topics of nonfiction.
. . .
People can help the library by donating to Liberty Bay Books’ campaign on its website, libertybaybooks.com , over the phone at 360-776-5909, or in person at the bookstore on 18881 Front St. in Poulsbo.
WCCW’s library is a branch of Washington State Library, sharing public benefits from statewide donation programs, but Liberty Bay Books is the only campaign that is exclusively and directly helping WCCW.
Read the full article here.
Support Liberty Bay Books’ fundraising for WCCW here.
