SMETHPORT – Just something to read, that’s all this 21-year-old
man is asking for. But it becomes a little more complicated by the
fact that he’s an inmate at the McKean County Prison.
William Magee, who has been incarcerated for five months on
various theft-related offenses, wrote a letter to The Era asking
for donations of books to the prison to give the inmates something
constructive to do with their time.
“We have books,” explained Warden Tim Woodruff on Wednesday.
“They’re old. Our population is predominately male. A lot of the
books we have are romance novels. They’re not too interested.
“We’re a fairly poor county,” Woodruff said. “Any donations we
can get are wonderful.”
Free time with inmates can sometimes lead to problems, he
said.
“Dormant time tends to facilitate conversation that may not be
conducive to rehabilitation,” the warden said.
Woodruff, Magee and prison teacher/counselor Lisa Cagney showed
an Era reporter and photographer the small area which houses the
prison’s books Wednesday afternoon. Magee, a little shy and rather
surprised at the attention his letter garnered, said he wants his
prison experience to be a time to rehabilitate himself, and maybe
to learn a trade.
“I’m interested in learning plumbing,” he said.
Cagney nodded, saying most inmates have expressed an interest in
how-to books. “Anything educational for trades.”
“That would be excellent,” Magee said, smiling.
“(Magee) wants to learn a trade and doesn’t want to come back
here,” Cagney said. Magee agreed wholeheartedly.
“I never read before,” Magee said. “I read in here all day.”
“It’s helping you stay focused,” Cagney said to him. “I’ve known
William five months and there’s been a huge growth in him.”
And he’s not the only inmate who would benefit from some
additional books to read, Cagney said.
“There’s ladies and gentlemen in here who are reading a book a
day,” she said. “That’s one of the requests I get the most when I’m
walking through the block. ‘Can you exchange my book’ or ‘can you
get me a book?'”
Cagney said that anyone who would like to donate books or
magazines to the prison should first look through them to make sure
there are no names, addresses, phone numbers or personal items left
inside the pages or on the covers.
“Make sure there is no information they wouldn’t want to be
shared,” she said.
And there are some restrictions about the types of reading
materials allowed at the prison. Woodruff said they stay away from
pornography, information on chemistry and weapons.
Cagney said many inmates are history buffs and appreciate
westerns, how-to books, mysteries, horror stories, books of the
month, classics that can be used in the adult education classes and
dictionaries and encyclopedias to be used to learn how to do
research.
Some higher level Newbery books would be appreciated, as would
Guinness Books of World Records, wildlife and nature books. Popular
authors like James Patterson and Stephen King are usually well
received, also.
Anyone interested in donating books can drop them off at the
prison at 17013 U.S. Route 6 in Smethport to the attention of
Warden Tim Woodruff. The staff at the prison will inspect the
materials before adding them to the prison collection.
