A Tennessee boy with a small budget and a much bigger heart used his allowance money to buy books for inmates at the local jail.

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Nine-year-old Tyler Fugett told his mom he wanted to give those behind bars at the Montgomery County Jail something to take their minds off their surroundings.

He also wanted them to have a portal into a better world.

He showed up without warning at the sheriff’s office, armed with more than 100 volumes he had purchased on sale at local bookstores.

He’d asked his mother, Rebecca Corkren, if she would drive him around so he could amass a small library. “He said, ‘When I’m thinking bad thoughts, I like to read, so I want to collect books for them,’’’ his mom told ABC News. Tyler has a relative who spent time in jail, she said.

The child reasoned that “If they read, they don’t have time to think about doing bad things when they come out. Maybe they’ll find one thing in there that would make them click to be better people,” his mother recounted.

The sheriff’s office was thrilled.

“Our jail library has no budget and there’s no taxpayer money that goes toward it,” said Public Information Officer Sandra Brandon told Good Morning America.

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“We rely 100 percent on donations, so when we get anything like this, we’re just very excited,” Brandon said.

Corkren said she and her son dropped off another box of books on Wednesday, and now Tyler is rounding up personal hygiene items to donate to prisoners and others who need help.

“He has my house looking like a store,” his mother says. But she doesn’t mind one bit. “He’s doing the right thing. We live penny-to-penny, and for him to do this, it’s a blessing to see.

“I’ve never seen a child with heart like his,” Corkren said.