MASS collaborated with Betts and his team to design a modular, trauma-informed library system that could be replicated in prisons nationally. The design centers around curved wooden bookshelves, intentionally shaped to challenge the rigid, cold architecture of carceral spaces. The form echoes Martin Luther King Jr.’s words: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” More than a symbolic gesture, the curve creates a sense of openness and invitation—encouraging interaction, eye contact, and a break from the isolating geometry of prison design.

Crafted from warm wood, the shelves offer an alternative vision of prison life—one that is restorative rather than punitive. They allow residents to sit, browse, and connect with themselves, one another, and the broader world through literature. MASS partnered with local fabricators across the country to prototype and refine the units.