Between February and April this spring, the Phi Kappa Phi Council of Students held its annual Book Drive Competition. As part of the contest, 24 chapters across the country hosted drives to collect as many books as possible for an organization of their choice. 

The book drives were held at both colleges and universities, small and large, representing all five Phi Kappa Phi regions. Beneficiary organizations chosen by the chapters ranged from schools to libraries to other community organizations including food shelters and tutoring and mentoring programs. 

In all, the participating chapters collected more than 14,000 books! 

The three chapters whose book drives collected the most donations were named as winners:

• North Dakota State University 
• Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
• University of Missouri–St. Louis 

These chapters will receive a “Little Free Library” and $150 for personalizing the Little Free Library. The concept of the Little Free Library is a “’take a book, return a book’ gathering place” in a community—a prize that fits in well with Phi Kappa Phi’s love of learning and love of literacy. The chapters will decide where to place their Little Free Libraries somewhere on their campuses or in their local communities. 

Other chapters that hosted a book drive as part of the contest include Andrews University; Arizona State University; California State University, Fresno; California State University, Sacramento; Clemson University; Delta State University; Duquesne University; Eastern Kentucky University; Elmhurst College; Ithaca College; Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania; Louisiana State University; Marshall University; Murray State University; Nicholls State University; The University of Southern Mississippi; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; University of Louisiana at Lafayette; University of South Alabama; and University of West Alabama.

Chapters interested in learning more about the contest or how to host their own book drives or service projects can contact Jami Prince. 

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Top photo: The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville chapter, one of three winning chapters, donated books to a local Head Start center. 

Bottom photo: The University of West Alabama chapter collected more than 300 books and $425 for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library of Alabama.