LOS ANGELES — Words opened up a new world for Luis S. Garcia — one passage in particular from the book, "A Lesson Before Dying" by Ernest J. Gaines had a powerful impact.
“I want you to show them the difference between what they think you are and what you can be,” is a quote Garcia comes back to often.
Today, 54-year-old Garcia works in behavioral health grants — he leads a stable, happy life. But throughout his 20s, Garcia was in and out of prison, charged with assault with a deadly weapon and parole violations.
“When you’re incarcerated, it’s never a safe space," Garcia said. "You don’t know what’s going to happen to you. Anything can happen at any moment in time, so you’re always in fear of anything happening.”
Despite the pain of that period, Garcia said he managed to find a safe space in books. He was given books by others in the jail, including a pastor. In some of the prisons, he also had access to a library.
“I would document every book I read and so, I had this long list of the classic books, Edgar Allan Poe, John Steinbeck ... that helped me through that really uncomfortable, scary period," Garcia said. "It was kind of like my saving grace from dealing with that transition.”
Garcia said books helped him discover and find new ways out of incarceration. Today he holds a masters in social work and a doctorate in education.
It’s a heroic story — one of overcoming adversity and immense challenge, that Ahmanise Sanati knows well. Sanati is a former clinical supervisor in Twin Towers correctional facility. During her time working at Twin Towers she would bring in books for clients.
“I would bring books in because it was the only thing I could give to someone to utilize," Sanati said. "On the door signs, which is something that indicates what one may have in their cell, book is the only thing outside of the basic essentials that they can have in their cell. When we didn’t have books, I realized there was a problem.”
Sanati said during her time working at the jail, access to books was limited, and that they were often unavailable. The books she brought in were extremely popular. People she worked with would write letters, thanking her for bringing in books for them to read.
Sanati left her job at the jail a year ago, and since then has been campaigning to ensure books are available for everyone at Twin Towers and Men’s Central Jail. Sanati reached out to the LA County Board of Supervisors and asked for help. Supervisor Lindsey Horvath answered the call. In February, the Supervisor introduced a motion calling for reliable access to reading materials for individuals incarcerated in LA County Jails.
The motion was passed and now, books and shelving have been installed, and re-installed in some cases in Men Central Jail and Twin Towers.
“It was shocking to me to learn that books were not readily available through a program like this already,” Horvath said. “Some staff believed there was a program, a program had existed, that was part of our report. ... We learned that the facility, the space that had existed previously, was taken over for some much needed health services,” she said.
However, Horvath added that the books program was not maintained — “The books were placed into storage under our previous sheriff. Then it was discontinued. Ahmanise focused our attention to make sure we resurrected this program,” she said.
Sanati said access to books is not a fix for all the well-documented issues in LA County Jails.
But, she emphasized books can offer some relief and support. “We ought to treat people with the same degree of humanity that we treat everyone else, because these are people who are going to make our society better — when we treat everyone as humane as the next person,” Sanati said.
For Luis S. Garcia, books set him on a path towards a new life outside of prison and incarceration. “They facilitated this ability for me to anchor myself in these objects of hope, despite the circumstances, here it is 25 years later and I can see how access and new ways of thinking based off these books anchored me in hope,” he said.