NC State student-athletes and administrators have set some lofty goals this winter to help individuals of all ages to be able to read more books.

"Booking With The Pack" is hoping to collect upwards of 25,000 books to be handed out to various places in the community. The NC State women's basketball team held a rally for used books when the Wolfpack hosted Texas Christian Dec. 6. The NCSU men's basketball program will do likewise when the Wolfpack hosts North Carolina Central Jan. 30 at the RBC Center.

"We have 'Booking With The Pack' all across campus," said Philip Moses, who is in his 15th year at NC State as the executive director of the Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes.

"We have 'Booking With The Pack' bins in all the dorms on campus. We are getting ready in the spring semester to get involved with student organizations and faculty groups wherever we can to encourage that."

Moses and graduate student Jennifer MacNab have helped spearhead the program. MacNab coordinates "Booking With The Pack" for the academic support program for student-athletes.

The duo has also received key help from NC State cross country and track and field distance runner Bona Jones, a junior, and former Wolfpack tight end Rashad Phillips, a senior.

"Bona and Rashad have been involved in the leadership of the program and working to distribute the bins across campus that we are using to collect our books," said MacNab, who is in her third year with the academic support unit for student-athletes. "They are really the face of our program."

Around 50 student-athletes have also contributed to the program by visiting middle schools and attending pep rallies that get students excited about reading.

"It's a student-athlete driven program that strives to promote and improve literacy around North Carolina," said MacNab, who is a 2008 NC State graduate with a degree in political science. "Through the collection and redistribution of books, that is our main focus. We are trying to get books into the hands of those that need them.

"We also had about 20 student-athletes that represented a variety of teams to sign autographs [prior to the TCU-NC State game] for the middle school students in order to show how special they were and how proud we were for reading 10 books in 10 weeks."

NC State is also sponsoring literacy initiatives in middle schools in Wake County.

"We are trying to run a contest for the kids," MacNab said. "We did nine middle schools this semester. We are trying to get them excited about reading and to read 10 books in 10 weeks, and then we celebrate with them at a women's basketball game."

The redistribution of the books would happen sometime during the spring semester. The program donated the books to several organizations in the Raleigh area last year, such as the Boys & Girls Club, Haven House, Tammy Lynn Developmental Center, and The Healing Place for men and women. The hope is to expand upon that base this spring.

Moses said they might also develop a readers bureau for student-athletes to read to younger kids in the future. He hopes the whole University will eventually embrace the project of collecting books.

"We have some great partners already," Moses said. "The NCSU library system is already involved with helping us secure some book shelves, so we can store the books. We think this is a project that can allow everyone to make a difference in the lives of students and adults who can't get books."

Other members of the community have also taken the initiative to help out the cause. Durham (N.C.) Jordan High wrestling coach Phil Davanzo, a former NC State wrestler, has had students and members of the Falcons' wrestling team try to collect 3,000 books for the program. To put things in perspective, NC State collected around 4,000 books last year in the inaugural year for the program.

"We've also gone external to the University, to find people who are maybe involved in book stores, or have access to books and would like to make a difference in people's lives," Moses said.