Congress·In Committee·S. 4320

Prison Libraries Act of 2026

New Federal Grants for Prison Libraries

Apr 16·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

This bill is one vehicle in a longer effort. See the full story across every version.View effort →

Next up: A senate committee

The Prison Libraries Act of 2026 is currently in the early stages of the legislative process. It was recently introduced in the Senate and sent to the Committee on the Judiciary for review. No further actions are scheduled at this time, and the bill is waiting for the committee to decide on its next steps.

Legislative Progress

Senate

House

President

Law

Unlikely to pass

While the bill focuses on reducing crime through education, it currently lacks support from the other party, which makes it hard to pass in a divided Congress.

How we got here

This bill’s path across every version that has carried it.

Reintroduced
Reintroduced from H.R. 2825 (118th), which died when its Congress ended.
H.R. 2825 (118th) →

Key Points

This bill creates a new grant program to help states and territories build or improve libraries in prisons. The goal is to give people in prison better access to books, technology, and learning tools to help them succeed after they are released.
Prisons could use the money to buy physical books, e-books, and computers with internet access. It also pays for hiring professional librarians and setting up programs for job training, financial literacy, and even art or music classes.
Facilities that get this money are not allowed to charge people in prison for using the library, reading books, or using computers. The bill also requires that libraries be designed to be more welcoming and less restrictive when safety allows.
The program would provide $10 million each year through 2031. To get the money, states must show a clear plan for how they will improve literacy rates and help people find jobs once they leave prison.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Apr 16, 2026Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.

Apr 16, 2026

Introduced in Senate

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

No votes or news coverage recorded for this bill yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

Prison Libraries Act of 2026

Bill NumberS 4320

Congress119th Congress

ChamberSenate

Latest ActionRead twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Data Sources

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(4)

D: 4

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.