A Little Love Letter to Media Mail: How FDR Made Books Less Expensive to Send

I worked in TV news for 13 years, and I still appreciate a story that gives you a tidbit worth knowing. Especially when it’s about an ordinary thing you’ve never thought much about. Like the price of mailing a book.

I recently wondered whether Jimmy Carter was responsible for the special postal rate for books. He wasn’t. I was a few presidents and several decades off.

I wanted to share this with you: the credit belongs to Franklin D. Roosevelt, who established the special book rate that preceded today’s Media Mail in 1938. Eligible books could travel through the mail for a penny and a half per pound, regardless of how far they were going. The part I like best is his reason.

In his October 31 proclamation⁠, Roosevelt described the purpose as supporting “the cultural growth, education, and development of the American people.” 

As the granddaughter of two elementary school teachers from a family of readers and writers, I think that’s a lovely ambition for a postage rate.

It’s a decision declaring that getting a book into another person’s hands mattered enough to make it more affordable. That the value of what was inside the package deserved consideration over the cost to send. What a comforting concept.

We as a society talk a lot about the grand things presidents do that it’s easy to overlook the smaller and more distant decisions that become part of daily life. A reduced postage rate doesn’t sound especially heartwarming. But a grandmother mailing a book to her grandchild does. So does sending a friend the novel you stayed up too late finishing, with a note tucked inside saying, “You have to read this.”

It’s a practical detail makes the thoughtful gesture a little easier.

I appreciate a beautifully wrapped present, but a book someone chose specifically for you is a very particular kind of gift. It says they know what interests you. Or that something made them think of you, and they wanted you to have it.

Sharing a book can be a small way to keep someone company from far away.

So that’s my little discovery for today. Roosevelt, 1938. A penny and a half per pound. I went looking for the name of a president and came away intrigued by and fond of a postage rate.

Want to send some good reading? USPS Media Mail starts at $4.39 for a one-pound package. Delivery typically takes 2–8 business days.