Brazil decided to try and change this, and did so by offering an incredibly attractive reward for prisoners: a reduced sentence. Dubbed "Redemption through Reading," the program offers a reduction of four days from a convict's sentence for every book they read and write a report on, with a maximum of 48 days reduced per year.
What is Brazil hoping to gain from this? The idea is that reading will give prisoners a different view of the world "outside," thereby reducing the prisoner's chance of committing another crime once they're released.
"A person can leave prison more enlightened and with an enlarged vision of the world," says lawyer Andre Kehdi, who heads a book donation project for prisons.
There are only a few guidelines and rules for the program. A panel will determine whether an inmate is eligible for the program, and if chosen, they must write a report that fits certain criteria. They'll have four weeks to read each book and write an essay that must "make correct use of paragraphs, be free of corrections, [and] use margins and legible, joined-up writing."
