How to Send Books to Someone in Idaho Prisons (Approved Vendors & Size Rules)

Mailing-address

• ✓ First line: Resident’s last name + IDOC number
• ✓ Second line: Facility + resident’s unit number
• ✓ Third line: PO Box 70010
• ✓ Fourth line: Boise, ID 83707

When you place a book order, copy this format exactly - especially the resident’s last name, IDOC number, and unit - so the package can be routed correctly when it arrives at ISCC.

You can't mail books to ISCC yourself. Orders must ship directly from the publisher or an IDOC-approved vendor, and the package needs to include a receipt or invoice. Skip either requirement - wrong sender or missing paperwork - and the book probably won't reach the resident.

Approved-vendors-list

• ✓ Edward R. Hamilton
• ✓ Thrift Books
• ✓ Discover Books
• ✓ More than Words
• ✓ Prison Book Program
• ✓ Books a Million
• ✓ Books N Things
• ✓ Sure Shot Books
• ✓ The Women’s Prison Book Project
• ✓ Idaho Prison Arts Collective

Before checking out, confirm the vendor includes a receipt or invoice in the shipment. That paperwork is required under IDOC's publications rules.

ISCC accepts new and used books, but they must be softcover. Hardback educational, legal, or religious books are the one exception - and only when a softcover version isn't available and the resident gets approval from facility administration first.

• ✓ Max length: 11 inches
• ✓ Max width: 8.5 inches
• ✓ Max thickness: 3 inches

1. Confirm there’s no softcover option - hardbacks are only considered when a softcover version isn’t available.
2. Have the resident seek administration approval - approval must come through the facility’s administration.
3. Limit the request to qualifying categories - the hardback exception is for educational, legal, or religious books.

1. Start with an approved source - order from the publisher or an IDOC-approved vendor (not an individual shipment).
2. Pick the right format - choose softcover as your default.
3. Check the size before you buy - keep it within 11" long, 8.5" wide, and 3" thick.
4. Make sure the package includes paperwork - the shipment needs a receipt or invoice.
5. Use the hardback exception only when it truly applies - hardback educational, legal, or religious books require administration approval and are only for cases where no softcover version exists.

• ✓ Book ships from the publisher or an IDOC-approved vendor
• ✓ Not ordered through Amazon
• ✓ Book is softcover (unless the resident has approval for a qualifying hardback)
• ✓ Book is no larger than 11" x 8.5" x 3"
• ✓ Package includes a receipt or invoice

Use the same four-line format every time you enter the shipping address: resident's last name and IDOC number on line one, facility and unit number on line two, PO Box 70010 on line three, Boise, ID 83707 on line four.