The first prison in the United States was built in Massachusetts in 1676, but it was not until the end of the 18th century in 1790 that the first "book service to prisoners" began at a U.S. prison (Rubin, 3). This program was begun by the Philadelphia Prison Society who "hoped to help the prisoners realize their sins and properly atone for them," which meant that all of the material they provided to the prisoners was religious (Rubin, 3).
19th Century
The first library in a U.S. state prison opened in 1802 at the Kentucky State Reformatory (Rubin, 3). This collection also contained primarily religious materials (Rubin, 3). During the 1820s, some prisons opened Sunday Schools/Sabbath Schools to teach inmates basic literacy, writing, and math skills along with religious instruction (Angle, 4-5). Interestingly, by the 1850s Sabbath Schools were operating in several states, "but only prisons in Indiana and Ohio had actual formal instruction classes - chaplains being the teachers in these settings" (Angle, 5). Most states did not have prison libraries until the 1840s (which were still stocked with primarily religious materials), but even then some states did not allow any libraries in their prisons (Rubin, 3). During the 19th century, most prison libraries were run by clergy members (Lehmann, 491). The goal of the prison library and its reading materials was to promote "character, religious devotion, and...behavior modification" (Lehmann, 491).
The Prison Reform Movement, which called for prisons to become places of rehabilitation rather than purely retribution, began in 1870 (Lehmann, 491). In the model of rehabilitation, prisoners would be rewarded for good behavior, and "the prison library was seen as one of these incentives" (Lehmann, 491). However, the prison library was still viewed primarily as a means for encouraging behavior modification and character improvement, so only books that fit those specific goals were allowed (Lehmann, 491). However, there was at least one exception to this rule (if not more). In 1887, a small library was established my some of the inmates at the Utah Territorial Penitentiary (Bashore, 240). What made this library out of the ordinary was that it included novels by Charles Dickens (Bashore, 240). At that time, "fiction and novel reading were viewed as having value only as entertainment and lacking the power to improve moral character" (Bashore, 240), so it is surprising that these books were allowed in a prison library at that time. However, since it was the prisoners who began the library and furnished the books, not the prison itself, that may partially explain why these books ended up in the library (Bashore, 245).