Something gnawed at former jail mental health clinician Ahmanise Sanati early in her career. She couldn’t find books to give her incarcerated patients — some suffering from boredom, others from debilitating mental health illnesses. So, she set out to change that.
Sanati’s effort started with a handful of titles — people devoured fantasy novels and books in Spanish — and turned into book drives that led to thousands of donated page-turners and a partnership with Skylight Books that raised over $11,000.
At one point, she organized mobile bookshelves that went to every floor of the Twin Towers jail.
“And every time I came back, the books were gone,” Sanati said.
She kept bringing in books for over a decade. But last year, Sanati left her job at the jails after years of growing concerns about the treatment of both incarcerated people and jail staff. In her absence, no one stepped in to keep the book project going.
Stepping Up Again
It’s not controversial that the simple act of reading is powerful medicine for people behind bars.
There’s widespread agreement that having books in jail is beneficial for the people being held there. But in the Los Angeles County jails — where nearly 15,000 people are incarcerated — there is no official library system.
Los Angeles County Jails
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The Los Angeles County system is the nation’s largest jail system and largest mental health facility. Nearly 15,000 people are incarcerated across various facilities. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department runs the jails.
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