TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama Center for Economic Development, or UACED, will launch the 16th annual Books for the Alabama Black Belt campaign Jan. 31 that encourages UA students, faculty, staff and local residents to donate K-12 books for students in the region.
UACED strives to help children develop a love of learning and reading by distributing appropriate books to students in Alabama’s 13 Black Belt counties. UACED will deliver the books to schools in Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Perry, Pickens, Sumter and Wilcox counties in late spring.
UACED will accept donations of new or gently used classic and award-winning books frequently found on school reading lists for K-12 children until Feb. 25. Donors can bring books to donation boxes on campus in Honors Hall, Oliver-Barnard Hall, Reese Phifer Hall, Tuomey Hall and the Student Government Association office in The University of Alabama Student Center.
Donors can also bring books to the off-campus donation box at the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum located at 1901 Jack Warner Parkway in Tuscaloosa. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Additionally, donors can drop off books Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at UACED located at 621 Greensboro Ave. in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama’s Black Belt includes some of the nation’s most disadvantaged counties with high rates of poverty, declining populations and high unemployment. Limited access to educational resources is also a major concern for the future of K-12 students in this region. The primary goal of UACED’s campaign is to collect more than 30,000 books in order to provide one book to each child in the Black Belt.
Sponsors of the 2022 campaign include the Blount Scholars Program, UA College of Communication and Information Sciences, UA Honors College, UA Museums and UA Student Government Association.
For more information about the book campaign, contact Sally Brown at 205-348-8344 or sally.brown@ua.edu.
Books for the Black Belt website
Collection Dates:
Jan. 31-Feb. 25
Contact:
205-348-8344, sally.brown@ua.edu
Contact
Sally Brown, UA Center for Economic Development, sally.brown@ua.edu, 205-348-8344