If you walk into the Pike County jail and hang a right just past solitary cells, you’ll find a table with cardboard boxes and crates overflowing with books.
From John Grisham to Louis Lamour, the King James Bible to Danielle Steele — there are more than 900 in all. Many are old and worn, with frayed edges or faded covers, but all are in good enough condition to flip through for another read.
The books are donated by the members of the McComb Rotary Club and J.J. White Memorial Presbyterian Church, parishioners of St. Alphonsus Catholic Church and benefactors from other local churches and organizations who are dedicated to giving inmates a good way to pass the time they have to serve.
And after just 10 weeks in action, the jail library — with the encouragement of McComb resident Dr. Jim Chaney — is a program picking up steam.
The concept is simple, Chaney said: Let inmates read and think while in prison instead of simply being cooped up, and provide a way to encourage better behavior all in one shot. Inmates are warned that if they damage the books, the program will end.
The response has been overwhelmingly positive from prisoners glad to have a story to get lost in.
“To me, it’s made a big difference,” said Sgt. Jamie Whittington. “You’ve got some that are loyal readers. It’s slowed the trouble that we’ve had back here down.”
There are plans to expand as the reading program gains popularity. Bookshelves are supposed to arrive soon to organize storage.
And as more people hear about the library, more books get dropped off for the collection.
Anything that would be acceptable at a public library is allowable at the jail, too. Even “Shawshank Redemption” or “The Count of Monte Cristo,” Chaney admitted with a laugh.
Chaney, for his part, visits every Thursday morning, sometimes with additional volunteers to help him. They load the books onto an old library cart and trek up and down the cell blocks exchanging what was given out the previous week for something new.
Imagine “Hey! Book Man!” echoing around cells as Chaney asks inmates if they like romance — novels, of course — or Westerns, or thrillers, or any number of other genres.
Pretty soon, there are inmates recommending good reads back at the people handing out the literature.
“I got interested in this right after I moved here in December 2005,” Chaney said.
“The first day, the inmates said ‘What do you want back from us?’ I said, ‘Nothing,’ and they couldn’t believe it.”
For Chaney, it can even be a bit of a spiritual experience. He mentions the “Sermon on the Mount,” and the biblical mandate to “do unto the least…”
“I see it really as a down payment on trying to meet that commandment,” he said.
Not to mention that it’s a natural fit for the Rotary Club’s broader focus on community service.
But for inmates, the reward is particularly sweet. They reap a type of generosity, friendliness and warmth that many have never seen before.
“For many of the inmates, they’ve never been shown any kindness or shown that anyone cares,” Chaney said. “Sometimes that’s all it takes for people to be able to change their lives.”
Whittington said he’s seen that first hand.
“A lot of them ask for Bible material,” he said. “They’ve started talking with us about it. … It’s really improved things for me and my officers. … I was really shocked just that it worked.”
The pen is mightier than the handcuff, perhaps.
“We did not know what reading level the inmates would have?” Chaney said. “We did not know what they might like to read. … But we were surprised and pleased that inmates requested and still request materials written by the most popular writers in the country.”
And, Chaney added, the sheriff’s office has been easy to work with, too.
“We wanted to not cause any additional work for the deputies,” Chaney said. “They’ve been very nice, very supportive.”
