Juvenile Court Book Club is a 501(c)(3) public-benefit nonprofit organization run entirely by volunteers.  We operate innovative literacy programs inside San Diego's youth detention facilities.

Since 1996, JCBC volunteers have collaborated with Court School employees and the San Diego County Probation Department to provide students who are wards of Juvenile Court to share books, develop reading skills, and meet new people.  Our programs include monthly Book Club discussions, one-on-one tutoring, independent reading libraries, and college scholarship awards.

Students gather monthly with community volunteers to discuss a wide range of literature in a roundtable book club setting. The books they read serve as a springboard for discussions of real-life challenges, experiences, inspiration, and issues that are relevant to students in detention.

JCBC was founded by Judge Maria Arroyo (Ret.), Juvenile Court Referee, with support and encouragement from Judge James Milliken (Ret.), former Presiding Judge of the San Diego Juvenile Court.  Many of our volunteers are attorneys and retired teachers, and have volunteered with us for more than ten years.

We gratefully acknowledge financial support from numerous partners in the local community.  Our supporters include the Weingart-Price Fund at San Diego Foundation, Friends of Children United Society, the Rancho Santa Fe Women's Fund, the Lawyers' Club Fund For Justice, the San Diego Council on Literacy, and many others.

JCBC is the proud winner of the award for "Outstanding Program for Youth" from the San Diego Juvenile Justice Commission, as well as the 2011 "Celebrate Literacy Award" from the Greater San Diego Reading Association.

Become a Volunteer

If you would like to attend a Book Club, we can arrange for a Visitor's Pass.

The San Diego County Probation Department requires all volunteers working inside detention facilities to undergo a Volunteers In Probation background clearance. Background checks are conducted externally by the Probation Department. All information you submit will be kept confidential.

For more information about Visitor's Passes and background checks, contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Gabriella Liem.

JCBC is a proud member of the San Diego Council on Literacy

Facts about JCBC

• JCBC is composed entirely of adult volunteers and youth  who are wards of the Juvenile Court.
• Volunteers work with teachers, Probation staff, and other employees in the Juvenile Court and Community Schools to create an annual Book Club curriculum (one book per month) to complement the California Public High School English curriculum.
• JCBC raises funds from private grants and donations to purchase copies of each month's title.  We serve approximately 140 students per month at four different sites.
• We purchase extracurricular media when it is available, such as related books, movies, magazines and audiobooks, to enrich the Book Club experience for students.
• Adult volunteers attend monthly meetings and interact closely with students to discuss the book.  The group leader brings refreshments, and volunteers encourage participation by the students.
• In addition to monthly Book Club discussions, we coordinate author visits, book signings, visiting performers, speakers, film screenings, and field trips.

Did you know…

• 70% of juveniles who are incarcerated for first-time offenses never have further delinquency charges.
• The average 16-year-old Juvenile Court student reads at the level of a fifth-grader.
• More than 70% of prisoners in the United States are functionally illiterate (reading at or below the fourth-grade level).