Educating incarcerated individuals is becoming more common across New York, but with that comes an increased need for books. A program called Freedom Reads helps individuals behind bars prepare for their next chapters.

Erik Holman has spent the last 21 years in New York state prisons. He's been at the Otisville Correctional Facility for the last three years.

“Under no circumstances would I ever forget about the fact that I caused harm to many people,” Holman said.

But reading about the possibility of a better future is helping Holman be someone who can give back to his community, rather than take from others.

“I love reading books on people who have overcome and beat odds, and made a success about their lives,” Holman said.

(Spectrum News 1)

This is something he said wouldn't be possible without Freedom Reads. The program was founded by a formerly incarcerated individual. It now educates people in six New York prisons, as well as correctional facilities throughout the country.

“The books that are offered to the incarcerated population are culturally diverse. They're written by people just like the families that they come from, or maybe some of their heroes that we may never have known about,” said Corinne Leone, director of Correctional Library Services for the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

While she said general and law libraries exist in facilities throughout the state, Freedom Reads libraries have been a key addition.

“They appreciate having the 24-hour access to a library. Though they can come and choose any book here, they can also go back to their home. And if they're anything like me, they read two or three books at a time,” Leone said.

Michael Avallone, who’s been in prison for seven years and is serving time in Otisville as part of his sentence, welcomed the chance to do something he loves, read. The program is also feeding another one of his passions by giving him a reason to create a mural in the library.

“This is the view that we look outside of here from this prison. Basically, every time I look out at the mountains in the sky, I think of freedom, and it means Freedom Reads. So we put it together and it's very simple, Avallone said. “I see the guys come in here, and they watch TV, or they come into the library, and I see them pay attention to it or look to it. And maybe it makes them feel a little bit better than just solid paint, you know? Maybe it gives them something else to look at and enjoy.”

It's an outlet that’s giving both Holman and Avallone a way to learn while instilling a sense of positivity as they continue their sentences.

“Your body may be here, but you’re not. You know, everything else around you doesn't matter. And just you’re reading every word, every page, turning the pages. And just looking forward to finding out what happens next,” Avallone said.

“At this point in life, that's what I’m looking for, to find some measure of happiness and massive success,” Holman said.

Leone said she is working with the Freedom Reads team to hopefully expand the program to more correctional facilities in New York.