Prison Libraries Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 7247 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7247 To establish a program to make grants for the establishment of prison libraries. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 27, 2026 Mr. Cleaver (for himself, Ms. Brown, Mrs. Foushee, Ms. Sewell, Ms. Simon, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Mr. Case, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Mr. Fields, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Thanedar, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mrs. McIver, Mr. Evans of Pennsylvania, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Ms. Crockett, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Ms. DelBene, Ms. Randall, and Ms. Norton) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To establish a program to make grants for the establishment of prison libraries. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Prison Libraries Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish a program to make grants to eligible applicants for the purpose of providing library services to incarcerated individuals in order to advance reintegration efforts, reduce recidivism, and increase educational opportunities. SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA. An eligible grantee under this Act is any State or territory that submits an application that includes the following: (1) A comprehensive plan for how the grant will be used, including project objectives, program design, and evaluation process. (2) Proof of the existence of a physical library at a correctional facility or the intention of creating one. (3) Data on the demographics of the population of the facility suf