Perfectly timed for the season of giving, students at the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Grambling State University have started collecting books for a prison near the school. The drive has attracted the attention of other HBCUs across the country who have also decided to get involved, resulting in nearly 5,000 books being donated to prisons.

According to knoe.com, students in Grambling State’s psychology and sociology club decided to start collecting books for the correctional facility after seeing the dearth of books in its library.

Knoe.com reports:

“The HBCU Book Challenge began as an effort by Grambling State University’s Psychology and Sociology Club members to bring more reading materials to inmates in Louisiana. After seeing a small prison library with a shortage of books, club members were inspired to organize a book drive last spring that collected 225 books for the inmates at Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe.”

This isn’t the first time Grambling has held the book drive. it was actually the great results from the first one that made students decide to do it again and give it the official title of  HBCU Book Challenge.

Other HBCUs got involved, including Alabama State University, Alcorn State University, and Savannah State University.

All four schools collected almost 5,000 books “for prison libraries in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia.”

The book drop offs began on December 1st and will continue to be distributed throughout the month.

With the success of this program, it is likely to continue next year and for years after. I love the outreach these students have taken upon themselves, and I hope their acts of generosity improve the educational outlook for the prisoners they’ve gifted.

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