Mass.-based volunteers send free books to people in prisons across U.S.

QUINCY, Mass. —

The Prison Book Program started as a grassroots collective in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1972.

Now, a nonprofit organization based in Quincy, volunteers respond to book requests from inmates who are incarcerated across the country.

Authorized to send books to about 1,100 facilities, executive director Kelly Brotzman said they fill requests as best they can. Most books are donated.

"We also have volunteers who go out to things like library book sales," she said. "We also have a certain set of books that we purchase."

The books they buy include standardized test study guides and dictionaries.

"Our number one request, and always has been since 1972, is a college-level dictionary," Brotzman said.

Charles Rosario, who was formerly incarcerated, serves on the board for