ALBANY COUNTY — There’s little that’s more reassuring to a child than the sound of her mother or father reading a book aloud. That’s the idea behind a new program getting underway at Albany County’s jail that is designed to keep kids from following in their parents’ footsteps — into jail.

Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple put out a call last week on social media for donations of books for children ages 10 and under, and explained that the sheriff’s office is working with a Ph.D. student from the University at Albany to make the program possible.

Apple estimates that about 180 to 200 of the 600 inmates in the jail have children. The total number of those children, he said, is probably about 320 to 330.

With this program, Apple hopes “we can let the kids know that their mom or their dad still cares for them and still loves them, and keep them from growing apart while they’re incarcerated.” That way, he says, “The kids would still have a sense of, ‘Maybe my mom or dad cannot be with me right now, but obviously they still care for me, and I do have someone in this world who cares for me.’”

Kids who feel alone and depressed, he said, are more likely “to go out and do something that they will regret for the rest of their lives.”

Apple said the program will cost taxpayers nothing. “I figured if I could get some donated books,” he said, “everything else is already in place, and it would really be a cost-free program.”

Apple concluded, “I don’t think there’s a parent out there that wants their kids to follow in their footsteps in that jail. So the more that we can do to keep it together and get them through the time and get them out, I think the better off we will all be.“

The UAlbany student will come to the facility during off-hours, Apple said, with a couple of volunteers who will help, and inmates wanting to take part will be brought to a room outfitted with recording equipment.

For now, he says, he is asking for donations of books that would be appropriate for kids ages 10 and under.

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Anyone wishing to donate books can drop them off at any of the sheriff’s stations: at 58 Verda Ave. in Clarksville or 449 New Salem Rd. in Voorheesville, at the sheriff’s office at 16 Eagle St. in Albany, or at the Albany International Airport.