By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

HOOVER—Each year, the Berry Middle School community sets a lofty goal to read 10,000 books by the end of the school year, and this year, they’re on track to meet their goal early.

“(We do this) to encourage a love of reading, to make a culture of reading at our school,” Berry Library Media Specialist Ginger Hewitt said.

Any book counts, even books read for class, Hewitt said.

The school is split in to 14 teams, including a team for faculty and staff, and the number of books read is tracked by a large paper bubble gum machine that fills the wall across from the library.

Each time a team reads 100 books, they get to add a paper gumball to the machine. Hewitt also records what each student reads in a spreadsheet so she can better understand what kind of books each one enjoys.

When the goal is reached, the students are awarded with a movie day at downtown Birmingham’s famous Alabama Theatre.

“The kids get to choose the movie,” Hewitt said, noting the movie is a “school-wide decision.”

The annual reading challenge is a longstanding tradition at Berry Middle School, and something students look forward to each year. While it’s fun, it is also educational and beneficial to the students, Hewitt said.

“Kids get excited about it,” Hewitt said. “They come in (the library) and they talk about books. To me, that’s successful literacy.”