Mr. Matthew Alvarez is one of the fourteen inmate-workers at the San Quentin State Prison Library and has been assigned as such since January 2021. Mr. Alvarez is assigned as a Law Clerk at San Quentin where his duties include assisting San Quentin residents in achieving meaningful access to the courts. Mr. Alvarez brings an uplifting attitude to the San Quentin Library and, as his supervisor has said on multiple occasion, “Without Mr. Alvarez, this library would be seem incomplete.” Mr. Alvarez is actively involved with the Friends of the San Quentin Prison Library, he surveys patrons to determine what type of legal resources the San Quentin Library needs. Since Friends was established, Mr. Alvarez has witnessed many patrons’ understanding of law become better thanks to the contributions by people like you.

Some of his favorite books -He enjoys reading travel books and sci-fi. He acclaims “The Fault in our Stars” by John Green as “one of the best book ever written.”

Why Kai helped start Friends of San Quentin Prison Library - Kai’s passionate about changing the culture of prison through empowerment. Most incarcerated people read below an 8th grade level and this lack of literacy and information resources in our prisons has profound consequences. As an advisory member Kai helped draft our mission statement, plans our programs, and is active in fundraising. He is most proud of creating the San Quentin Book Fair for Incarcerated Parents, a bi-annual event that allows incarcerated parents to send beautiful, high quality, children’s books to their kids—free of charge.

More about Kai - Kai is a UCLA educated prison rights activist, blogger, and nonprofit executive presently serving a life sentence at San Quentin State Prison; he has for more than a decade maintained his innocence. He cofounded, and currently serves as Board Chairman for, San Quentin SkunkWorks, an innovation lab that researches, designs, and implements criminal justice and prison reform policies. In his free time he enjoys chess and singing to the captive audience in the group showers, where his friends affectionately refer to his performance as “yet another form of cruel and unusual punishment.”

Some of his favorite books - Just Mercy, Human Kind, A Guide to the Good Life, Between the World and Me, Nudge, Shantram, The Count of Monte Christo, Talking to Strangers, Logical Chess, and The Name of the Wind.

My name is Tony, I am a member of the LGBTQ+ community and an assistant producer on the award winning podcast EarHustle. I am 33 years old and have been incarcerated for a decade. I am a loving member of my family and I cherish them above all. I love working in the San Quentin Library, and with Friends of the San Quentin Library to assist my incarcerated peers with their literary and legal needs. I feel it is important to share our truths and experiences about our incarceration to help those outside of a correctional setting understand why my peers and I ended up in prison to begin with. There is no better way to help others understand then through story.

Some of his favorite books - My favorite authors are David Sedaris, and Maria Semple. I love laughing and getting stuck in a compelling story that makes me feel like I am part of a community.

As the legal clerk of the Law Library, I’m afforded the opportunity to help patrons with learning the law and how to go about the process of self-representation in the courts. Many of the incarcerated population are in need of assistance in understanding how to advocate for themselves in the courts and the avenues available. Being the person to bridge that gap is fulfilling, knowing individuals are able to empower themselves with the knowledge they’re able to obtain from the Law Library. Friends of San Quentin organization has also helped build our collection of legal books by coordinating with myself and other legal clerks to focus on the needs of the incarcerated population.

Some of his favorite books - I am huge fan of Black Power by Stokley Carmichael.

Gabriel Loiederman has been with the San Quentin Library since 2018 and works with FoSQL to help improve the library collection. He initially connected with Kristi Kenney through her work at the Friends of the Berkeley Library where she helped collect books to be donated to the prison. Since then, The Friends of The San Quentin Library has been integral in providing resources that more effectively target library patrons by focusing on subjects such as re-entry, recovery, career development, and financial literacy.

Aaron Dahlstedt reviews, processes and expands the book wish list with inmate requests, recommendations, feedback, and conversations. It is the best job ever! Mr. Dahlstedt has been at the San Quentin library since 2021 and is proud to be part of the work being done by the Friend’s team. 

Kristi is a volunteer who co-founded the Friends of the San Quentin Library after meeting Gabriel through her work with the Friends of the Berkeley Public Library. She has volunteered with the Berkeley Friends since 2015 and has been researching prison access issues while getting her Master’s in Library Science. Kristi previously co-managed bookstores for over 10 years and loves working with books. With the founding of the Friends of the San Quentin Library, she aims to do social justice work on a more individual scale, making small impacts in people’s day-to-day lives.