West Virginia University recently provided a $7,540 public service grant to The Appalachian Prison Book Project (APBP) to fulfill literary requests from male and female prisoners.

The grant, written by Kathleen Ryan and Mark Brazaitis, faculty members in WVU s Department of English, will be used to buy supplies, pay for postage and purchase frequently requested books, especially dictionaries. The APBP will also hire a student intern to work 10 hours per week during the school year.

In the past few months, the Appalachian Prison Book Project has been inundated with book requests from prisoners,Brazaitis said.Were eager to fulfill as many of these requests as possible, so the grant could not have come at a better time.

The APBP is composed of WVU students, professors and members of the Morgantown community. The group is an official student organization of WVU . The APBP focuses on the Appalachian region, principally West Virginia, although it does consider other requests.

In addition to our primary work of putting needed books in the hands of women and men in prison, the Appalachian Prison Book Project builds important connections, bringing together people involved in literacy efforts, prison reform, faith-based action and violence prevention,said Ryan, the groups founder.The grant will allow us to do our work faster and better.

APBP s library, which contains more than 3,000 books, is housed on the second floor of the Garlow House, located next to the Morgantown Public Library on Spruce Street.

Its gratifying to open a letter from someone in prison and be able to fulfill his or her request,Brazaitis noted.Even more gratifying is receiving another letter from the same prisoner talking about how great or educational the book was. This is satisfying and important work.

The APBP meets every Friday from 10-12 a.m. at the Garlow House, although volunteers can work at other times during the week. Meetings are open to the public.

Receiving the grant doesnt lessen our need for volunteers,Brazaitis said.In fact, it means well need more to complete the far-reaching goals we have established.

Public service grants at WVU are designed to stimulate and support public service projects conducted by members of the Faculty Assembly and other full-time regular employees reporting to the Morgantown and Charleston campuses.

WVU s Department of English is part of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

For more information, e-mail appalacianpbp@gmail.com or write to P.O. Box 601; Morgantown, WV 26507 .