Freedom Reads Opens First County-Level Library for Youth at Camden Detention Center
Freedom Reads made Camden County its first county-level Freedom Libraries facility in the country, with 1,000 books designed to help provide joy and hope and “the possibility of transformation.”
Officials with Freedom Reads, a program to bring libraries to juvenile detention facilities, present new books to the Camden County Youth Detention Center in Gloucester Township.
Image Courtesy Camden CountyA new program that provides books and bookcases to incarcerated individuals has donated 1,000 books to the Camden County Juvenile Detention Center.
Freedom Reads made Camden County its first county-level Freedom Libraries facility in the country.
Custom shelves now line the walls, stocked with books picked to spark young minds at the pre-trial center. Kids stuck waiting on Family Court rulings at the Blackwood facility can now grab a book anytime.
"We are incredibly grateful for this generous donation of Freedom Libraries, complete with over 1,000 books, to our Juvenile Detention Center," said Commissioner Jonathan Young, liaison to the Juvenile Detention Center, per Camden County.com. "These libraries will give our young residents the chance to explore their interests, grow, and build a foundation for making positive choices that ultimately reduce recidivism."
The spark for Freedom Reads came from CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts's own story. As a teen behind bars, he found his way forward through books.
"I went to prison when I was 16 years old. Books saved my life and helped me realize I wanted to become a writer," said Reginald Dwayne Betts. "Now, my goal as the Founder of Freedom Reads is to bring books to others in the hope of providing joy, hope, and the possibility of transformation. As I always say, freedom begins with a book."
These special collections now sit in detention centers nationwide. Each shelf holds stories that might change a life, offering windows to new worlds for those locked inside.
Local youth caught up in legal trouble fill the Camden County center's halls. While court dates await, these books stand ready: silent friends waiting to whisper tales of possibility.
