Started in 2009 by University of Alabama (UA) professor Dr. Jamie C. Naidoo, the SLIS Book Bonanza for the Black Belt (and Beyond) is an annual program sponsored by The UA School of Library & Information Studies. Each year, the program donates brand new children's and young adult books to school libraries in the Black Belt region of the Alabama, one of the poorest areas in the nation.
In 2015, the program expanded to include a "Beyond" winner. The "Beyond" winner is a low-income private school in the Black Belt region of the state or a public school in an economically disadvantaged area of Alabama outside the Black Belt region. The purpose of the category is to give one equally deserving school library, that is not eligible to be a Book Bonanza for the Black Belt Winner, an opportunity to address literacy needs in their school community.
Past Amounts Awarded (in free books) via the SLIS Book Bonanza for the Black Belt (and Beyond) Program
2009 -$8,800+
2010 – $8,000+
2011 –$7,000+
2012 - $7,600+
2013 –$11,500+
2014/15 - $15,400+
2016 - $22,500+
2017 - $22,600+
2018 - $25,700+
2019 - $20,800+
2020 - $23,200+
2021 - No winner selected due to COVID closures
2022 - $38,300+
2023 - $19,200
2024 - $15,200+
Past Black Belt School Winners of the Book Bonanza
ABC Elementary School (Wilcox County), 2009
Akron Community School (Hale County), 2010, 2012
Aliceville Elementary School, serving grades K-6 (Pickens County), 2020
Aliceville High School, serving grades 9-12 (Pickens County), 2018
Amelia Love Johnson School, serving grades K-12 (Marengo County), 2018
Banks School, serving grades PreK-8 (Pike County), 2019
Barbour County Jr. High School, serving grades 7-9 (Barbour County), 2012
Barbour County High School, serving grades 10-12 (Barbour County), 2013
Booker T. Washington High, serving grades 9-12 (Macon County), 2014/15
Bruce Craig Elementary, serving grades 3-5 (Dallas County), 2014/15
Carver Elementary & Arts Magnet School, serving grades K-5 (Montgomery County), 2013
Carver Middle School, serving grades 4-8, (Greene County), 2011, 2013
Central Elementary School, serving grades K-5 (Lowndes County), 2016
Central High School, serving grades 9-12 (Lowndes County), 2016
Chisholm Elementary School (Montgomery County), 2009
Dallas County High School, serving grades 9-12 (Dallas County), 2013, 2019
Deborah Cannon Wolfe Elementary, serving grades K-6 (Macon County), 2014/15
Dixie Elementary School, serving grades PreK-5 (Russell County), 2020, 2023
Fort Deposit Elementary School (Lowndes County), 2010
Francis Marion High School/Francis Marion School (Perry County), 2011, 2018
F. S. Ervin Elementary School, serving grades PK-6 (Wilcox County), 2018
George P. Austin Jr. High School, serving grades 6-8 (Marengo County), 2016
Gordo High School, serving grades 7-12 (Pickens County), 2009, 2013, 2017, 2022