Books behind bars: A personal mission for change

EVERETT — On a sunny Saturday morning, Bryson Fico brought 379 books through the Marysville jail doors, offering what he calls “small escapes” for people with nowhere to go.

The officer helping him unload the donation called it the biggest the jail had ever received.

It’s the latest milestone in Fico’s self-run initiative, Pages of Redemption, a nonprofit effort he launched in September 2023 to bring books into Washington’s jails. What began as a side project during his time studying law and justice at Central Washington University has since grown into a one-man operation that has donated more than 1,200 books across the state.

Fico grew up surrounded by books.

His mother, a sixth grade reading teacher, instilled a love of literature that shaped his worldview and, ultimately, his path. While touring correctional facilities as part of his coursework, he found himself returning to one question: What do incarcerated people do with all that time?

“I kept wondering — how do they keep themselves occupied, how do they educate themselves?” he said. “What opportunity do they have there so that when they get out, they have some more knowledge?”

He noticed that many jail libraries were sparse, stocked with occasional, outdated donations that weren’t rotated often. So he started collecting. Craigslist posts, community drives, libraries in Ellensburg and Tacoma— he searched everywhere for gently used paperbacks. He cross-checks every title against databases, like one from The Marshall Project, to ensure none are banned in facilities.

Each box he delivers tries to reflect what he’s learned inmates want most: mysteries from authors such as Sue Grafton and James Patterson, self-help and job-readiness books, language guides in English and Spanish and a mix of fiction and nonfiction.

The donation also included several books written in Spanish, filling a gap in the jail’s collection. Many Marysville inmates speak Spanish as their first language, but the facility previously had no Spanish-language books available, according to Cmdr Robb Lamoureux of the Marysville Police Department.

“They’re always looking for things to do, and beat the boredom of being incarcerated,” Lamoureux said. “Anything we can do to occupy their time, in a positive manner, is something that we’re interested in.”

The donation marked a major upgrade for the facility, which is still in the early stages of developing a library and now has more resources to support inmate recreation, Lamoureux said.

“You want these inmates to be entertained and have a reality to escape to,” Fico said. “It also allows them to show their creative side.”

Fico, now a working paralegal preparing to return to school at the University of Washington, has big plans for the program’s future. One day, he hopes to open a permanent location to support people transitioning out of incarceration — and to continue speaking inside facilities as a guest. But for now, it’s just him, some boxes and the belief that everyone has a second chapter waiting.

“I believe everyone has a redemption arc in them,” he said. “This is my way to give back. You can’t expect change unless you’re going to be the one to bring it.”

Fico’s collection has already made its way to jails in Ellensburg, Enumclaw, Des Moines — and now Marysville. The boxes he rolled in on Saturday morning were filled with titles meant to meet people where they are and help them imagine where they could go.

Aspen Anderson: 425-339-3192; aspen.anderson@heraldnet.com; X: @aspenwanderson.