Every other week at one of the Rikers Island jail complexes, a small group of incarcerated men and a few Columbia University volunteers come together for about 2 hours to engage in a shared reading experience. They select a book, read, discuss, debate, listen to each other and make connections between themselves and the texts. Over the years, they’ve read new fiction, the classics, autobiographies, sci-fi, plays, short stories and poetry.

The Rikers Book Club is run through the Justice-in-Education Initiative (JIE) of the Heyman Center at Columbia University. It began in June 2022 with men incarcerated in the Veterans’ Unit. The book club generally includes 6-7 members from the unit and 2-4 volunteers from JIE. At the first meeting of the semester, the men in the group vote on which book to read together and at the following meeting, the volunteers bring a copy for everyone. Books are read over the course of a few sessions and typically there are 3 books in a semester. Often, there are a few men who sit on the outskirts of the group, watching and listening. These men are also given copies of the books so they can follow along as they prefer. Over time, they typically end up joining in the reading circle.

For people who are incarcerated, reading groups have been identified as a way to break up the monotony of an otherwise tedious and time-warped day. These shared reading experiences and group discussions can be cathartic, can help to promote empathy, exposure to different perspectives, deep thinking, communication, participation in an informal and low-stakes learning space, and above all, a sense of connection to books and to group members in a relevant and meaningful way.

This grant will help to cover the cost of the Rikers Book Club. All of the funds from the grant will specifically be used to support the purchase of books. Books typically run $19 per copy (including tax exemption) and are purchased from a community bookshop.

You can help:

• Make a donation (write “Rikers Book Club” in the special instructions box)
• Volunteer your time