Orange County Schools is teaming up with Barnes and Noble for a fundraiser to bring a more wide variety of books to their classrooms.

Durham’s New Hope Commons Barnes and Noble is now featuring a table filled with books available to be purchased and donated to the Orange County School System.

Orange County Schools chief academic officer Michele Woodson says these books will supplement those already available in the school’s libraries and media centers and will offer teachers a better opportunity to engage their students.

“[We’re] just wanting to build the opportunity to have texts in classrooms for kids to be able to be engaged in so that they’re able to read information that they’re interested in as well as meets their needs on their reading levels,” says Woodson.

Any books donated will be readily available to students in their classrooms, which Woodson says promotes a workshop structure in Orange County schools.

One of the fundraiser’s goals is to promote diversity in the books available in schools.

“We want to make sure that we’re including a diverse group of texts,” says Woodson. “We want a variety of authors from a multitude of backgrounds as well as different content areas.”

Barnes and Noble held a kickoff event on Saturday. Books are also be available for online purchase.

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