Paul Goble
Staunton, July 22 – Prior to 1917, many Russians who became political radicals described tsarist prisons and camps as their “universities,” places where they were able to acquire knowledge about politics. Now, once again, Russia’s detention centers and prison camps are playing a similar role.
That is because prisoners and former prisoners say, penal policies in Russia today mean that inmates have access to far more books than anyone had suspected. Not only are there prison libraries but books sent to one prisoner remain in his or her cell to be read by others when he or she is moved on.
As a result, there is always an abundance of reading matter, including some things the authorities may not recognize as a force for radicalism and ones that pass from hand to hand as it were because of the authorities increasing proclivity to move the incarcerated population about and at each stage are forced to leave their books behind.
With the passing of time, many cells become remarkably large libraries; and many of the books in them by virtue of their own content or the underlining or notes of earlier readers lead a new generation of the incarcerated to get ideas that the authorities beyond doubt would prefer them not to acquire.
That is just one of the conclusions one can draw from a remarkable article by activist and journalist Irina Khalip about the state of reading among Russians behind bars, a story that has rarely been told but certainly deserves more attention given its impact on those who eventually leave Russia’s jails and camps (novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/07/22/a-chto-tam-u-tebia-za-kniga-byla-chto-vse-menty-v-akhere).
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