A Mother’s Voice: Incarcerated parents record bedtime stories

While her mother serves a prison sentence, a 4-year-old girl tightly carries around a storybook, keeping it so close that her older sister can’t borrow it. There’s something special about the book. It has her mother’s voice.

The recordable storybook is part of the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) program “Riley’s Readers,” allowing incarcerated parents to record themselves reading books to their children and grandchildren.

The program, first called “A Mother’s Voice,” was launched in 2016. It developed by a group of Midlands leaders, including SCDC Director Bryan Stirling, during workshops sponsored by the Riley Institute at Furman University.

Read more about “A Mother’s Voice” on The Post and Courier by Caitlin Ashworth.