Media specialist to bike to state capitol as fundraiser for school's library

As a self-described "hooligan" three decades ago at Piedmont High School in north Alabama, Scotty Brooks suffered through another detention one day in 10th grade.

"I was bored to death," he said.

Fortunately, his detention was in the school's library, where the boredom sparked his love of books, which eventually led to his job as a media specialist.

And after being hired at Russell County High School this year, Brooks has combined his other passion, biking, for a fundraiser to boost the library's deficient collection.

So to understand why this 46-year-old veteran of the U.S. Army and two police departments will pedal Nov. 7 more than 100 miles from the school to the Alabama capitol, you must know what happened during that detention.

'Holy cow!'

Although his father was a teacher and then a principal, Brooks was more of a jock. The only texts his buddies liked were playbooks. The detention boredom grew so great, Brooks dared to browse the library's shelves. His eyes fell on "The Lords of Discipline," a Pat Conroy coming-of-age novel set in 1966 at a South Carolina military institute.

Brooks glimpsed the cool cover, picked up the book, and, after skimming the first page, this previously struggling reader struggled to put it down.

"Holy cow!' he thought. "This is like a movie in my head."

He finished the book in less than a week. Now, he wants to provide more opportunities for students to experience such motivating moments with literature - but without detention.

The key, he learned, is to match books with students' interests. He can't do that often enough, however, if his library doesn't have engaging choices. So he seeks more Stephenie Meyer than Louisa May Alcott.

But that requires money.

No budget

When he met the school's departing media specialist this past summer, he asked what the budget is for the library. She told him there isn't one, due to years of cuts.

"Funding statewide kept dwindling," he said. "Then they have to focus on core subjects. So when it comes down to do we buy new textbooks or do we give money to the library, textbooks are going to win."

Plus, the library's collection still hasn't fully recovered from the 1998 tornado that damaged the roof and many books.

"We just have all these empty shelves," Brooks said as he gestured around the library. Approximately half of the stacks contain more air than books.

The library's collection lists 12,541 books (4,650 novels, 1,009 biographies and 6,882 additional non-fiction books). According to the School Library Journal, a 2009 survey showed high school libraries averaged 16 books per students. That means, with approximately 1,000 students, Russell County High School is about 3,500 books short of the standard. It also has two computers and should have 10 to 15, Brooks said.

The library did receive an infusion this year of $1,500 worth of current popular fiction, thanks to Brooks and the school's other media specialist, Ida Agee, hearing about money leftover in an account, Brooks said. He discovered websites that send free magazines to the library, and they are trying to increase the library's circulation even before enlarging the collection.

Agee simply opened the blinds on the windows that had been hiding the view of the shelves from the hallway. She suggested, Brooks said, "Let the kids see what's here. Let this be more welcoming."

"It was a great idea," Brooks added. "The kids and teachers started telling us how much they love it. We're trying to make this a draw. This is the second day we've had them open, but we're hoping the kids say, 'Hey, there's a library there.'"

He also hopes the "Ride to Provide" fundraiser will help them be glad they visited the library.

Career path

At 8 a.m. Nov. 7, Brooks plans to leave from the school's parking lot and, six hours later, reach the capitol's steps.

"As the road goes," he said, "if you just get on 85, it's 86 miles to Montgomery, but the way I mapped it out, it's 112."

That's because his wife, Tammy, won't let him bike on the interstate. She is the nurse residency program manager for St. Francis Hospital in Columbus, and he credits her for getting him into biking.

After graduating from high school, Brooks served for four years in the U.S. Army. He was based in Germany during Desert Storm, then was honorably discharged as a corporal.

Brooks served as a police officer for a combined nine years in Dothan and Opp. He combated drugs and gangs and worked in SWAT teams and K-9 units.

"I loved every aspect," he said. "Then it was like a door shut."

He told his wife, "I'm thinking about doing something different.

Brooks and Tammy dated in high school, so when he disclosed his desire to teach, she was in disbelief.

Nonetheless, while he continued working as a policeman, Brooks pursued a teaching degree at Troy University. He thought, "If I can't make it through this, I'll go back."

Instead, he graduated with honors as he earned a bachelor's degree in secondary education for English and health science in 2001.

Brooks taught ninth-grade reading at Pike County High School. The ages of his students ranged from 16 to 21.

"These were kids that couldn't read," he said. "I was all fired up that I was going to save all these kids."

A 21-year-old ninth-grader doused those flames when he announced, "Hey, Mr. Brooks. I know you're trying and all, but I'm just really here to eat."

Then the grant that funded his job in the reading program expired after one year. But he landed at Pleasant Home, a Class 1A school where he taught English in grades 9-11 for two years. Next stop was Smiths Station High School, teaching pre-AP English for nine years. That's when Brooks scratched another itch for a career change.

"I wanted to push the reading aspects and the research aspects with more than just my students," he said. "I wanted to do it for the whole school, to be able to reach more kids and promote reading and encourage reading."

So he attended Jacksonville State University and graduated with a master's degree in media science in 2012. He worked as a media specialist for three years at Phenix City Intermediate School before moving to Russell County High School.

Christmas gift

Brooks religiously lifted weights to be as big and strong as he could while he was a police officer. Despite being 5-foot-7, he weighed as much as 205 pounds, "but I couldn't even walk to the mailbox without seeing black spots," he said.

Six years ago, once he turned 40, his wife gave him a Walmart bike for Christmas. He rode on the Chattahoochee Riverwalk and saw folks on more advanced bikes zoom past him. So he upgraded to a used Trek road bike. He asked questions. He did research. He even recorded the Tour de France on his DVR and played it in slow motion to study the competitors' pedal strokes.

"I wanted to be as good as these dudes I was riding with," he said.

Now, he rides four or five times per week, totaling 150-200 miles. His rides range from 25 to 100 miles. He does cross-fit training on the other days.

Asked what he enjoys about biking, Brooks said, "It sounds kind of cliché, but I love the freedom of it. Somebody said it's the closest thing you can get to flying. It almost takes you back to when you were a kid. When nobody's looking, I'll take my hands off the handlebars. It helps you think. I'll listen to music or just kind of have time for my devotional."

Devotion alone won't lift the library to the level the school deserves, Brooks insists. The goal is to raise $5,000. As of Tuesday, the "Ride to Provide" account at GoFundMe.com had collected a total of $210 from seven donors in one month.

He concluded, "Everybody is like, 'I'm all behind you,' and I'm like, 'Great, but we need some money.'"

Brooks described the impact that money could make.

"It's going to actually add so much to our students," he said. "They already have such great educators around them. This is just going to enhance their opportunities for them to fall in love with reading. That's just going to enhance their world in all areas of their life."

Mark Rice, 706-576-6272. Follow him on Twitter@MarkRiceLE.

IF YOU GO

What: Russell County High School media specialist's Scotty Brooks' "Ride to Provide" bike trip to raise money and awareness to improve the school library's collection.

When: Nov. 7, leaving at 8 a.m.

Where: From the school's front parking lot to the Alabama capitol in Montgomery.

Donate: www.gofundme.com/ridetoprovide

More info: Call the school at 706-321-2246 and reach Brooks at ext. 7771, or email him at brookss@russellcsd.net.

This story was originally published November 1, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Media specialist to bike to state capitol as fundraiser for school's library."