On Saturday, Governor Kay Ivey wrapped up a statewide tour at The Lodge at Gulf State Park, where she held her Gulf Coast celebration featuring platinum recording artist Neal McCoy.

In the week leading up to the celebration, Ivey traveled to First Class Pre-K classrooms in Pine Hill, Mobile, Huntsville and Birmingham promoting children’s literacy. In each city, the governor read and distributed copies of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and “Where The Wild Things Are” to local children.

At the Gulf Coast event, more than 800 Alabamians joined in celebrating the inaugural period, including Lt. Governor-elect Will Ainsworth, Attorney General Steve Marshall, Secretary of State John John Merrill, Agriculture Commissioner-elect Rick Pate, State Treasurer-elect John McMillan, State Auditor Jim Ziegler and Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft.

As part of the governor’s efforts to promote children’s literacy, attendees were encouraged to bring four children’s books.

At the end of the festive evening, Ivey inaugural committee co-chair Dr. Cathy Randall said, “I want to thank our guests, along with the generosity of Books-A-Million and the Alabama Farmers Federation for being a part of the Governor’s efforts to promote children’s literacy throughout the inaugural festivities. I am thrilled to share that nearly 2,000 books were donated to the Alabama Literacy Alliance!”

The inaugural committee will be hosting an additional book drive to benefit the Alabama Literacy Alliance at the inaugural gala on Monday evening.

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn