By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

PELHAM— Book lovers and avid readers at Valley Elementary School have more than 3,000 new titles to dive into after Hoover’s 2^nd & Charles donated more than $10,000 worth of books to the school.

The donation was part of a book drive hosted by 2^nd & Charles and was a collaborative effort of general manager Todd Skipper, assistant general manager Mark Clifton, the store’s faculty and members of the community.

“One of the things we like to do is to try to support the community,” Clifton said in a March 22 interview. “The response that we got from Valley was just wonderful. They were just positive and excited to know that we were going to be doing this.”

The drive lasted about six weeks, according to Clifton, ending right after the first week of January. He said they chose Valley Elementary because of its proximity to the store and because many customers are from the Pelham area.

The staff put together a large selection of books, some were also selected by VES, and customers were given the opportunity to purchase a book to support VES at checkout.

“Basically it’s a collaborative effort between us and the customer,” Clifton said. “It’s just one of the ways 2^nd & Charles, we like to be involved in the community.”

2nd & Charles is located at 1705 U.S. 31 in Hoover and purchases, sells and trades CDs, books, video games, DVDs, vinyl records and more. Clifton said they do one or two book drives a year, partnering with different schools in the area.

Clifton delivered the books to Valley Elementary School March 10 to kindergarten teacher Brandee Barnes, and her students accepted the donation on behalf of the entire school.

“The teachers were very excited, very welcoming and very happy,” Clifton said. “It was just really a positive experience.”

With Valley Elementary and Valley Intermediate schools combining to create two elementary schools next year, Clifton said 2^nd & Charles also included books for grades three through five as well.

The staff knew the schools would need to expand the libraries, so Clifton said they were happy to help out.

“2^nd & Charles is just happy to participate and support the community and the schools,” he said. “We appreciate the support that Valley gave us and just the great gratitude they showed.”