Community Partner Spotlight: Denver County Jail

BookGive Partners with Denver County Jail to Increase Book Accessibility for Incarcerated Populations 

BookGive’s partnership with the Denver Sheriff Department started just under a year ago, when they began receiving donations for their downtown detention center.

After seeing the influx of amazing books coming through their downtown location, the Denver County Jail decided to work with BookGive to expand book access to other facilities.  

Individuals who find themselves in the Denver County Jail system regularly receive books from BookGive, offering a powerful solution to combatting the challenges associated with incarceration. 

The partnership elevates the importance of literacy access for a community of individuals who can often feel isolated from others, providing opportunities to learn and expand their imagination.  

“BookGive provides incredible impact to people who are incarcerated,” says Carleigh Sailon, a mental health professional for the Denver County Jail. “Being able to escape to a new world through a good book offers comfort, joy, and even support with mental-health related challenges like anxiety or grief.” 

The nonprofit’s presence in the community creates a series of touchpoints for hundreds of books a month to reach a diverse group of people through Denver County Jail facilities. Partnerships like these ensure our region’s most vulnerable populations have the ability to access current, quality reading materials that are tangible, a feeling that is often lost on a Kindle or scanning articles online. 

BookGive volunteers also spend intentional time making sure every request follows guidelines that meet community partner expectations, including book donations in other languages like Spanish. 

As for the future of the partnership, Sailon says the simplicity of receiving donations has been a huge lift.   

“It might seem like a small thing, but ensuring we will receive regular donations doesn’t limit us on what books we give out,” she says. “Knowing we’ll be getting donations allows folks to keep the books they read as they leave. It makes a big difference for people in our custody and for our staff.”

As a proud community partner, we’d be remiss if we didn’t ask what Sailon’s favorite genre of books are and some of her favorite reads.

“While I love biographies, specifically biographies about musicians, one character I wish I could be is from my favorite children’s book from Kindergarten, Rainbow Fish,” she tells us with a smile. “There’s a powerful lesson in that book that teaches us not to judge a book by its cover, and that’s become my life philosophy.”

Interested in becoming a BookGive community partner? We’d love to hear from you! Send us an email to get the conversation started, today.