Photos by Juan Carlo / Star staff "No one thing can do it all. We're just a piece of the puzzle," Jeanne Johnson said of inmates who want to change their lives.

When Melissa Cook and Jeanne Johnson received a handwritten letter from a California inmate asking if they would send him a book to read, they knew their long-time commitment to reading and literacy had reached a new audience.

Co-owners of the Book Bag, a nonprofit community bookstore in Thousand Oaks, Cook and Johnson said the 26-year-old inmate explained in his letter that he was in a prison cell 23 hours a day and that being able to read a good book would mean a lot to him.

He had learned of their bookstore by finding their address in a book another inmate had given him.

So Cook and Johnson sent the prisoner, who was incarcerated at Wasco State Prison in Kern County, two of the books on his wish-list, "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens and "The Razor's Edge" by W. Somerset Maugham.

It didn't take long for word to spread. It's been just four months since they sent the requested books, and now they are sending free books to 170 inmates in 12 prisons and jails throughout California.

Books go to places like Folsom State Prison and the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi. Cook and Johnson said the number of book requests is growing every week, and it's a challenge to keep up.

They have dubbed their inmate book program "Escape through books" and said they believe the company of a good book can help reduce a sense of hopelessness that contributes to anti-social behavior.

"Many of the requests are for soft-cover Bibles and inspirational books that provide hope and healing," Cook said.

Books such as "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren are in high demand. She said dictionaries are at the top of the list, and classic novels by the likes of Joseph Conrad, Mark Twain and John Steinbeck are also requested.

They said the first two books are free, but after that, the inmate must send the needed postage along with the book request.

"We used to pay for the postage ourselves, but it's too expensive now," Johnson said.

She said inmates each get a letter telling them the postage costs for the number of books requested.

The inmates send either the necessary number of stamps or the cash needed for Cook and Johnson to buy the postage. Inmates pay for the postage out of wages they earn with their prison jobs, or family members help out.

Cook and Johnson said they believe that quality books can help make a difference for inmates who have no sense of direction in their lives and who want to change their behavior.

"We're not making judgments about why they're in prison. Most of the time, we don't know why. It's possible to become a better human being by learning through books," said Cook.

Susan Llewellyn, inmate services program manager at the Ventura County Jail, said the Book Bag's donations have been well received.

"They've been very generous to our inmates, and they send nice quality books. I'm glad they do it because we don't have enough books," Llewellyn said.

While books are helpful educational tools, she said that the biggest deterrent for inmate recidivism is getting a General Educational Development diploma, the equivalent of a high school diploma.

"It helps them get a job when they're released," Llewellyn said, "and that's not an easy thing for them to do."

California Lutheran University criminal justice professor Robert Meadows, a former police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, said the reading of books is likely to have a minimal effect on inmates who are not also involved in rehabilitation programs.

"Inmates who are committed participants in educational and substance abuse programs have a greater chance of coming out better prepared; otherwise, it's a revolving door concept," Meadows said.

Cook and Johnson said they know that rehabilitation programs are vital. "No one thing can do it all. We're just a piece of the puzzle," said Johnson.

Terry Thornton, spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in Sacramento, said that 70 percent to 85 percent of all inmates have a history of substance abuse, and that prisons are at a 200 percent capacity statewide.

"There is not enough of anything to go around, including books," said Thornton.

Cook and Johnson have known each other since 1981, when they worked as human resource professionals at the same company.

Cook is married with three children, and Johnson has two children and four grandchildren.

They opened the Book Bag in the spring of 2004 because, they said, they wanted to create their own dream job: making books affordable and accessible while at the same time promoting reading and literacy.

They sell quality used books at prices that range from $1 to $5.

Their 900-square-foot bookstore has 8,000 books on the shelves and an inventory of 5,000 additional books.

Book donations arrive every day.

They contribute profits from book sales to local literacy programs, such as Many Mansions, a nonprofit agency that provides housing to low-income residents, and a homework and literacy program for children.

They also contribute to the Conejo Valley Adult School literacy program.

"We do what we do for the love of books and the contribution they can make to all of our lives," Cook said.

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/jan/13/prison-break/

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