HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The pandemic has brought a lot of changes, and because of that, a few household items are now in high demand. One of these things that might surprise you? Children’s books.
The Huntsville Library Foundation says they’ve seen a spike in demand for print children's books during the pandemic-- even after they’ve taken a lot of their services virtual. To help fill the need, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle’s “Mayor Battle’s Book Club” and Dynetics donated $15,000 each to help purchase more books on Wednesday.
The money goes to the new Launchpad to Literacy Fund, which was created during the pandemic.
The Huntsville Library Foundation says this money is already going a long way. We spoke to Jennifer Swoboda with Huntsville Library Foundation's Board of Directors. Swoboda says, “We purchased approximately 3,000 books… It was a lot of fun working on this, we turned it around really quickly and we got those books ordered and on the shelves. They’re already out in circulation and being enjoyed by children all over the county."
Both donors said during Wednesday's press conference, they hope these books will help improve literacy for generations to come.