UA Program Gives New Books to Black Belt School Libraries

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies is awarding $20,822 in new, free books to elementary, middle and high school libraries during March via the SLIS Book Bonanza for the Black Belt & Beyond Program.

School librarians in the Black Belt region were invited to apply for the book give-away program from January to February, and applications from 30 schools were received. Judges chose six school libraries to receive, on average, $2,600 each in children’s and/or young adult books.

Also, two schools were selected as Book Bonanza Beyond winners. Beyond winners are either low-income private schools in the Black Belt or a public school demonstrating significant economic need in an area of Alabama outside of the Black Belt. This gives an equally deserving school library a one-time opportunity to address literacy needs in their school community.

Below are the winning school libraries:

2019 Book Bonanza Black Belt Winners:

Banks School, serving grades PreK-8 (Pike County), Kim Head, librarian.
Dallas County High School, serving grades 9-12 (Dallas County), Amy Reeves, librarian.
Mount Olive Intermediate School, serving grades 3-5 (Russell County), Cyrone Overton, librarian.
Pike County High School, serving grades 7-12 (Pike County), Kimberly Dunn, librarian.
Sophia P. Kingston Elementary School, serving grades K-5 (Dallas County), Krystal J. Dozier, librarian.
Sweet Water High School, serving grades PreK-12 (Marengo County), Patricia Jones, librarian.

2019 Book Bonanza Beyond Winner:

Thorsby High School, serving grades K-12 (Chilton County), Vanessa Langston, librarian.
Woodstock Elementary School, serving grades PreK-4 (Bibb County), Terri Woodruff, librarian.

Schools are encouraged to apply again in January for a chance to receive free books for their school libraries. For additional information, contact Dr. Jamie C. Naidoo, professor, UA School of Library and Information Studies, at jcnaidoo@slis.ua.edu, phone SLIS at 205-348-4610 or visit http://blackbeltbookbonanza.weebly.com. The program was established by Naidoo in 2009.