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Books Through Bars was founded in 1989 when an employee of New Society Publishers began receiving and answering book requests from indigent prisoners. Today, the group is comprised of 9 core collective members (including one member of the original collective) and nearly 20 occasional volunteers, receives approximately 1000 letters each month, and has received grants from Bread and Roses Community Fund, Phoebus Criminal Justice Initiative, Resist Inc., Womens Way, the Funding Exchange, and the Puffin Foundation. Originally sponsored by the New Society Educational Foundation, Books Through Bars recently received 501(c)3 status.

Cheryl Hess is a documentary filmmaker. Her most recent film, La Promesa (The Vow) was filmed in Cuba and is set against the backdrop of St. Lazarus Day (December 17th). Her work has been broadcast on WYBE TV 35 and The Learning Channel. Her films have been awarded Best Documentary at the Big Muddy Film Festival, U.S. Super 8 and DV Festival, and the Philadelphia Film Festival's Festival of Independents, among others. She has received a Fulbright Grant to travel to Colombia, a Window of Opportunity grant from the Leeway Foundation, and a Philadelphia Stories Production Grant from WYBE.

Anula Shetty is an award-winning filmmaker who received her Master of Fine Arts degree in Film & Media Arts from Temple University. She is a producer and co-director of Termite TV Collective, a group of video artists who produce experiemental and activist media. Shetty is a recipient of three Media Arts Fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and has taught film and video production at the University of the Arts, Arcadia University, Asian Arts Initiative and Scribe Video Center.