Choosing books to order for someone at Goose Creek Correctional Center
Order books for someone at Goose Creek Correctional Center directly from an approved vendor, and skip hardbound, used, leather-bound and spiral- or wire-bound editions. Books must be ordered and received directly from the vendor, so a copy you buy elsewhere and mail yourself is not a supported route.
Under Goose Creek Correctional Center’s August 11, 2022 basic mail requirements, publications must be ordered and received directly from the vendor. That covers books, magazines, comics, graphic novels and newspapers. The approved publication vendors are Edward Hamilton Books and Books N Things (MYBNTW.com).
Books, magazines and newspapers received directly from a publisher or distributor do not require the prior Property Department authorization that other packages require. The separate approved-vendor requirement still applies; this exception does not authorize purchases from every publisher or bookseller.
When you choose an edition, check its binding and condition as well as the title. A new paperback avoids the listed binding and used-book exclusions, but the delivery and content rules still apply. The following formats and book-like items are prohibited.
- ✓ Hardbound books
- ✓ Used books
- ✓ Leather-bound books, including Bibles
- ✓ Spiral- or wire-bound media
- ✓ Journals, diaries and blank books
- ✓ Calendars
Incoming publications may be rejected in part or in whole for prohibited content. Restrictions cover material that threatens safety or security, facilitates criminal activity, aids escape, or encourages violence or group disruption. They also cover instructions or illustrations for constructing or using weapons, procedures for brewing alcohol or making or cultivating drugs or poisons, and tattoo information or templates.
Sexually explicit material is prohibited, subject to the educational, medical/scientific and artistic exceptions below. The definition includes pictorial nudity and graphically described sexual acts, so it extends beyond material marketed as pornography.
Educational, medical/scientific or artistic materials purchased or acquired by the Department for institutional libraries or educational areas are allowed under a separate exception. That exception concerns departmental acquisition, not your purchase for someone at Goose Creek.
For educational, medical/scientific or artistic materials purchased or possessed by prisoners, the exception requires case-by-case approval from the institution head or designee. A title’s educational or artistic purpose does not make it automatically acceptable.
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