AFT and AFPENC, with Community Partners, Distribute 30,000 Books to Asheville Families on Second Anniversary of Hurricane Helene

ASHEVILLE, N.C.-AFT President Randi Weingarten joined American Federation of Professional Educators of North Carolina President Joanna Loftis and Read to Succeed Asheville/Buncombe co-Executive Director Jessica McLean to distribute more than 30,000 free books and reading resources to kids who attend Title I schools, families and educators during a family literacy fair today.

"This fair falls on the second anniversary of Hurricane Helene-a natural disaster that devastated Western North Carolina and communities up and down the East Coast," said Weingarten. "This community has come a long way in rebuilding, but it's clear that recovery is still underway. Devastating events like this remind us of the central role that public schools play in our communities and in ensuring children's well-being. Knowing how important it is for students, school staff and families to get back on their feet and back to learning in school, the AFT joined with AFPENC and Read to Succeed Asheville/Buncombe to help rebuild their libraries with 30,000 free books. Solidarity is central to what it means to be a union; we care for each other-our members, the students and patients we serve, and the communities we live in."

More than 1,000 families and 500 public school educators and staff attended the Reading Opens the World family literacy fair to pick books for home libraries and classroom collections. Families and parents were able to select up to 30 books for their children, and educators could choose 50 books for their classrooms.

"With the strength of the AFT behind us, working side by side with our community partners, we are doing everything in our power to champion opportunity and high-quality public education for all," said Loftis. "This is especially important in the face of disaster. When we affiliated with the AFT, we committed to working with every stakeholder who shares our belief that public education is the foundation of a strong and thriving North Carolina. Today is a day that displays both this commitment and our commitment to making sure educators and students across all of North Carolina have what they need to succeed."

Read to Succeed Asheville/Buncombe, North Carolina A. Philip Randolph Institute, and other local nonprofits, businesses and community groups were essential partners in the effort to make this event possible and increase North Carolinians' access to books.

"Over the past two years, students, families, educators, schools and community partners have worked incredibly hard to restore routines, rebuild learning opportunities, and help young people recover from the disruption and loss caused by the storm," said McLean. "This literacy fair is an opportunity to honor that work, recommit ourselves to supporting every learner throughout Western North Carolina's recovery journey, and come together for a joyful day centered on books, connection and possibility."

In addition to the free books, there were performances by a school majorette and drum line, a Halloween costume swap, an arts and crafts area, a voter information and registration table and many other family-friendly activities.

"Events like these are important because when I was young I was interested in reading, but as I got older it seemed like reading was going by the wayside. When you can expose children to new books, it's an awesome thing. Today is good for families that want to gift books for the holidays too. It makes reading exciting. As long as kids can get books in front of them, there's hope that it'll spark interest and joy in reading," said Erica Rawls, a parent.

The book giveaway is part of the AFT's Reading Opens the World initiative, a national literacy campaign run by the AFT and First Book to spread the joy of reading by providing more than 11 million FREE books to students and families in need for their home libraries and to Title I educators and school staff for classroom collections. The AFT has held hundreds of Reading Opens the World book giveaways and literacy events since the campaign started in 2011.

AFPENC is a new statewide affiliate of the AFT in North Carolina, chartered in March 2026, and a member of the AFL-CIO. Our union commits to being action-oriented. We believe that being engaged in school communities and advocating on behalf of employees, families and students is at the heart of who we are. Our membership is growing every day because public school educators want to be part of a union that offers real solutions to the issues they face.

Read to Succeed Asheville/Buncombe is a local independent literacy nonprofit in Asheville, N.C., on a mission to help close the race-based opportunity gap through community-powered literacy programming that supports children, families, schools and community partners. R2S programs include early childhood/kindergarten-readiness, elementary reading tutoring and community literacy access. Learn more and get involved at r2sasheville.org.

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The AFT represents 1.8 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators.