A prisoner advocate group is hoping to get newspapers into all the country's prisons.
The Sir Peter Williams QC Penal Reform League has already arranged for the New Zealand Herald and Northern Advocate to be delivered daily to Ngawha Prison inmates in Northland.
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The group's president, Lady Heeni Phillips-Williams, said she was somewhat surprised to learn that prisoners did not already have access to newspapers.
However, she said prison libraries were often managed on a "hotchpotch basis".
"It is our view that it's important for that link for prisoners with the outside community and it's also a tool in their rehabilitation and education," she said.
Prisoners and staff appreciated the initiative, she said.
"We are hoping that in due course that newspapers will become available to all New Zealand prisons, not just Ngawha."