Freshman Forum encourages students to drop off new or gently used elementary-reading level books or monetary donations at the Track 3 Book Drive this week between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the donation table in the Ferguson Center.

According to Track 3 co-chair Amber Hersh, Freshman Forum is a leadership development program made up of about 160 freshmen. This initial group is broken up into three tracks, led by elected students and an upperclassmen intern.  Hersh says Track 3 has around 50 members, including four officers and an adviser.

“Track 3 is one of three Freshman Forum Tracks,” Hersh said. “Our track specifically is also known as the Career Development track. We base our meetings according to three main areas including civic engagement, professional development and creative leadership.”

Emily Dowdell, member of Track 3’s publicity committee, said Freshman Forum is mutually beneficial to participants as well as to the campus and community.

“Freshman Forum obviously benefits its members in that we learn useful skills for life and make connections, but it also benefits the campus and the community, through the community service each Freshman Forum member does each semester,” Dowdell said.

Freshman Forum requires each track to organize an end-of-the-year service project to benefit the Tuscaloosa community. Track 3 secretary Katherine Mclarney said she believes UA students have an obligation to assist the greater community.

“The University of Alabama is fortunate to have support from Tuscaloosa and local businesses,” Mclarney said. “Tuscaloosa has been gracious to put up with the growth of the University, the students and the game day traffic, and we wanted to give back directly to the local community.

“Some of us are only in Tuscaloosa for four years, and during those four years we have the responsibility to sustain and foster the town for future students.”

According to Hersh, the topic of education was decided on for the year-end project.

“The big picture was to try to help reduce the Tuscaloosa drop-out rate in even the smallest way that we could,” Hersh said. “We decided to do something that would initially target elementary-aged students.”

Dowdell said she believes access to books at such a young age is crucial to anyone’s success.

“Reading at that elementary age, or even just having books read to you, is so crucial to the rest of your life,” she said. “Reading increases vocabulary, builds language skills and I think encourages creativity, and starting young sets you up for success later in life.”

Hersh said this is the first year the Forum has held a book drive, to her knowledge, but they expect good results.

“We have not set an official goal, but we are hoping for and expecting a good turn-out,” Hersh said. “We hope that this will be a project that can grow and be continued every year.”