Tuscaloosa City Schools Receives $320K For New Library Books

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Tuscaloosa City Schools (TCS) on Thursday announced that it has received $320,000 in funding to purchase books for libraries across its system.

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The funding was made possible through an “Innovative Approaches to Literacy” five-year grant.

TCS says all but three of its school libraries are expected to reach “exemplary” status, meaning the library collections are up-to-date, robust and offer high-interest books.

“The Tuscaloosa City Schools made the commitment six years ago to heal our libraries by lifting their collections to the level defined as “exemplary” in Alabama: 15 books per student enrolled with an average age of 10 years or less,” TCS Director of Strategic Initiatives Andrew Maxey. “Since then we have invested significant funds into all 18 libraries.”

TCS explained that funding varied for each school, with $40,000 to Bryant High School and the Alberta School of Performing Arts, while $32,000 was given to Northridge Middle School and $28,000 to Southview Elementary.

The school system said the allocations for each school were based on the amount needed to reach exemplary status — a designation that is granted by meeting standards set by the American Association of School Libraries.

The Innovative Approaches to Literacy grant was secured by Tuscaloosa City Schools n 2021 is credited with helping push many of the schools toward “exemplary” status.

“Thanks to the strategic planning of the grant administration team, $320,000 in grant funds have been allocated for library collections,” Maxey said. “When combined with the district's annual budget for this work, nine more libraries will reach the "exemplary" threshold once books have been purchased, processed, and added to their collections. By the end of this school year, 15 of 18 libraries will have exemplary collections.”

Maxey said by the end of the school year, all of the TCS school libraries except Bryant High School, Central High School and The Alberta School of Performing Arts will have reached “exemplary” status, with the three schools expected to achieve “exemplary” by the end of the 2024-25 school year.

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