In 2000, the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University was selected as the home for the newly formed Alabama Center for the Book, a state affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.

Under the sponsorship of the College of Liberal Arts, the Alabama Center for the Book (ACFTB) grew and thrived as a partnership of individuals, agencies, and organizations that support and foster books and reading.  Collaborations with communities, libraries, and schools during the next decade resulted in substantive programs for Alabamians, especially K-12 students, including Alabama Gets Caught Reading, Letters About Literature, River of Words, Alabama Voices, and This Goodly Land. 

ACFTB coordinated the first Alabama Book Festival in 2006, an event that brought together readers and writers from all corners of the state.  The Festival has become a much-anticipated annual celebration of books and reading.

The Alabama Center for the Book moved to the Alabama Writers’ Forum in the summer of 2009.