Lee Child backs campaign to send nearly half a million books to UK prisons

Almost half a million books will reach prisons in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland this autumn in a campaign supported by bestselling thriller writer Lee Child. The charity the Reading Agency is running it as part of its Quick Reads programme, which offers short books. The aim is to help prisoners who struggle with reading and to reduce reoffending.

How the books will be distributed

Eleven short titles will be handed out, chosen with input from both prisoners and staff. One book will go to every cell across the prison estate, and extra stock will be sent to prison libraries. The collection covers crime and thrillers, memoir, wellbeing and a creative writing guide. Authors include Child himself with High Heat, Leye Adenle, AA Dhand, Lemn Sissay, Andy McNab and Dr Alex George.

Alongside the books, the Reading Agency will organise author-led workshops and creative writing activities, produce content for National Prison Radio, and provide resources for prison libraries, education teams and peer supporters. The initiative is funded by the Henry Smith Foundation, a poverty-focused non-profit.

The literacy problem

Child, who began work as the UK's first prison reading laureate last year and has made between 30 and 40 prison visits since, said the project is meant to tackle the "revolving door" of people leaving prison, struggling outside and returning to custody. "If we can stop one in 10 of those people from coming back, that would be a major achievement," he said.

Ministry of Justice statistics for 2024-25 show that 65% of initial-assessment results across public prisons in England, based on tests taken on entering custody, were at entry levels 1-3, below the standard expected of a typical GCSE student.

Child said poor reading skills add to the difficulty of finding work with a conviction and complicate everyday tasks such as reading a lease or official notices. He rejected the idea that the scheme is "soft on crime", calling it a practical way to support rehabilitation.

Karen Napier, chief executive of the Reading Agency, said the programme was designed to give people in prison a choice over what they read.