Aliceville Elementary School Students are going home with free books

ALICEVILLE, Ala. (WCBI) -Reading can be a powerful tool.

From street signs, social media, to a good old book, words are all around us.

“I’ve been reading ever since I was three,” said Kenderian Hill.

School is winding down for third grader Kenderian Hill, and that means it’s time to pack up the books and take a pause on learning.

But for students at Aliceville Elementary school, this is just the beginning.

“In order to be very successful in life, you must read. I enjoy reading personally, so I wanted to give that same vibe to other children. Why not enjoy your book? Why not see yourself in books when you’re reading?” said kindergarten teacher Shannon Moore.

Over 1,300 books were donated by the community giving each student a chance to grow their collection.

“A lot of these children don’t have huge home library’s. That was kind of the goal here, was to kind of start their home library’s or grow them a little bit wider,” said kindergarten teacher Kaley Powell.

Many of the kids are already self-proclaimed bookworms, so these freebies are a welcome addition to their little libraries.

“Happy, I like to read, and I read a lot at the house,” said Hill.

“I read a lot, I read at home basically most of the time, and I read at school when I get a chance,” said third-grader Allison Craig.

As summer approaches teachers hope their students will take these books and continue to read.

“I specifically thought, well let’s do this towards the end because I wanted them to go home with this high energy to read. So when they get home this summer, I want them to say ‘oh okay I’ve got this book from school, well I could also go to the library and get a book’. So I want them to connect that- from what they learned in school to their summer, and then also connected to the next year,” said Moore.

Shannon Moore said it’s essential to show kids that reading is a good thing.

In her classroom, she lets her students see her read to inspire them to do the same.