Program Providing Books For Kids In Court Launches In Brooklyn

BOERUM HILL, BROOKLYN — A single book shelf in Kings County Supreme Court is the beginning of a city-wide effort to provide kids waiting in court something to read, The Legal Aid Society announced last week. The book shelf is the pilot program for a new "Let Them Read" campaign that will bring books to the courtroom for young New Yorkers.

The Legal Aid Society partnered with Penguin Random House to start the program, which will hopefully be expanded city-wide, the nonprofit said. So far, the Brooklyn book shelf has provided almost 200 books for the 16 to 24 year olds in Brooklyn’s Adolescent and Young Adult Diversion court to read as they wait long hours for their case to be heard.

Hundreds of books from the shelf have already been taken home by Legal Aid clients and others.

“Many clients must miss school to appear in this part during the week." the nonprofit noted. "This might be the only opportunity they get to read."

The Adolescent and Young Adult Diversion (APY) court was created to offer alternatives to incarceration so as to limit future contact with the criminal justice system.

Previously, residents were "arbitrarily prohibited" from reading books in court, the nonprofit said. The Legal Aid Society worked to get the pilot program in place for over two years with the help of the Office of Court Administration, Judge Craig Walker — who presided over APY — and others, the organization said.

Books already provided by Penguin House for the program include "Decoded" by Jay-Z, "Born A Crime" by Trevor Noah, "Ghettoside" by Jill Leovy and several by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

“What better way to help stimulate a mind in a positive way than to provide a book," said Hon. Craig S. Walker, presiding judge of the Criminal Term Youth Part, Kings County Supreme Court. "It may seem like a small and meaningless gesture to some, but if we want these young people to aspire to do better, we need to provide them with the right tools in order for them to achieve their goals. That starts right there, in the Courtroom."

Photo provided by Legal Aid Society.