Gwinnett County Public Schools is asking for the return of about 80,000 books that were checked out from school libraries before the coronavirus pandemic shut campuses down last spring.

Although school buildings reopened in the fall, some students have continued learning digitally from home and others who’ve returned to classrooms might have forgotten about the books they checked last year, the school district said in a Wednesday news release.

“Our goal is to bring these books back to the media centers and make them available for other students to enjoy,” Mary Barbee, the school district’s director of media services, said in the news release.

The school system is hosting a book return challenge from Feb. 1 to Feb. 5, asking students to return library books to any Gwinnett County school or public library.

Books can be returned to school media centers, front offices or curbside drop-off bins where available. Staffers will scan the books’ bar codes to send them to the right libraries.

Digital learners can send their books with other students who attend school in person, according to the news release.

Participating schools will be entered in a drawing for a visit from the GCPS Book Mobile, which gives away free books for students to keep.

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

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