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Books-A-Million Partners with over 180 Charities This Holiday Season
[January 10, 2014]

Books-A-Million Partners with over 180 Charities This Holiday Season


BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --(Business Wire)--

Books-A-Million, Inc. (Nasdaq/NM: BAMM) today announced that Books-A-Million stores across the country collected books and toys during their annual holiday campaign held mid-November through January 1. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Books-A-Million store teams and through their partnership with the local community, over 180 charities nationwide received donations.

Each store chose to partner with a local organization that they believed would benefit most from the campaign. "We chose the Georgia Baptist Children's Home to receive this year's book and toy donations," said Sharon Vacula, General Manager of the McDonough, Georgia Books-A-Million. "They are dedicated to rebuilding the lives of children who have come from difficult situations involving abuse, abandonment and neglect."

Justin Hodge, General Manager of the Brookwood Village Books-A-Million located in Birmingham, Alabama, stated, "The kids currently staying at Children's of Alabama, a hospital that provides specialized medical care for ill and injured children across the state, will benefit from the books and toys our shoppers donated this holiday season." Cayleigh Cummings, who works for Children's of Alabama, agrees. "We are truly blessed to be able to partner with Books-A-Million to raise the spirits of the patients and families we served this holiday season. Close to 500 patients and families had a brighter Christmas this year thanks to the 'Sugar Plum Shop.' There is no way we could make an event like this work without these types of organizations in our community and state."

Other organizations who participated in the campaign also provided feedback on the impact of the holiday donation campaign. "Without businesses like Books-A-Million, thousands of children in the Mid-Florida area would not have gifts during the holiday season. We are thankful that people in the community care enough to support our holiday drive and bring smiles to the faces of children and parents in our programs at Children's Home Society of Florida," said Jennifer Anchors, Executive Director of the Children's Home Society of Florida.

Additionally, Denise Martin from the Altrusa Club of Portland describes how beneficial the campaign is to the organization. "With literacy as Altrua's primary service focus, so many in the state of Maine benefit from the distribution of these books throughout the greater Portland area and beyond, as our sister Altrusa clubs in Bangor, Biddeford/Saco, and Sanford/Springvale also distribute books to needy members in their local communities," said Martin. "Our ABC program in Portland receives the largest benefit of the drive, as this program distributes books to hundreds of kindergartners in schools serving poor readers, as defined by the state as 'Chapter 6' schools."



Gratitude was also expressed by Michele Donegan, Commander at Hermitage Precinct, representing the Metro Police Christmas Charities in Nashville, Tennessee. "Thank you so much. The toys and books we collected from the Nashville area stores are going to make many children within Davidson County very excited on Christmas morning! Thank you so much for partnering with us!"

Participating charities who received donations during the Holiday Book and Toy Drive from Books-A-Million's 258 locations include, among others, Children's Hospital of Alabama; Toys for Tots in Huntsville and Florence, AL; Holiday Hope in Brunswick, GA; United Way in Kokomo, IN; Ronald McDonald House in Joplin, MO; Shriners Children's Hospital in North Carolina; Books-A-Go-Go in Jacksonville, FL; Brunswick Shriners Hospital in Erie, PA; and Families Helping Families in Columbia, SC. The outreach efforts of these organizations range from literacy and fellowship to children's health and hunger. A list of all the charities can be found online at www.booksamillion.com/bookandtoydrive.


"Through the generosity of our customers, and the overwhelming response from our store teams, we were able to collect more books and toys than ever before this holiday season," said Terrance G. Finley, President and Chief Executive Officer of Books-A-Million, Inc. "Thank you to our customers for supporting our local Books-A-Million stores, and giving the gift of literacy to children in need this season."

About Books-A-Million, Inc.

Books-A-Million, Inc. is one of the nation's leading book retailers and sells on the Internet at www.booksamillion.com. The Company presently operates 258 stores in 33 states and the District of Columbia. The Company operates large superstores under the names Books-A-Million (BAM!), Books & Co. and 2nd & Charles and traditional bookstores operating under the names Bookland and Books-A-Million. Also included in the Company's retail operations is the operation of Yogurt Mountain Holding, LLC, a retailer and franchisor of self-serve frozen yogurt stores with 41 locations. The Company also develops and manages commercial real estate investments through its subsidiary, Preferred Growth Properties. The common stock of Books-A-Million, Inc. is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol BAMM. For more information, visit the Company's corporate website at www.booksamillioninc.com. Follow Books-A-Million on Twitter (News - Alert) (http://twitter.com/booksamillion) and like us on Facebook (News - Alert) (http://facebook.com/booksamillion).


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