The traditional auction-a-date fund-raiser for children’s books is undergoing a serious makeover this year.

The campus Give-a-Kid-a-Book fund-raiser will feature drag queens and kings from areas such as Rochester, Minn., and Minneapolis. Catwalks and music will set the scene for the show at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Towers TV lounge.

“We were looking for a new and exciting type of fund-raiser,” said junior Matt Beasley, a resident assistant in Towers Hall South.

The entry fee for the fund-raiser will be either $2 or a children’s book.

A number of organizations are working together toward the common goal of collecting books for kids of all ages.

Last year the drive brought in nearly $3,000 in donations and distributed nearly 1,600 books, said senior Kelly Anthony, president of the Student Wisconsin Education Association.

Junior Alaine Johnson, another resident assistant in Towers Hall South who is organizing the drag show, said she is looking forward to the event.

“It’s going to be a wild time,” she said.

Donations to the organizations should be multicultural in nature, she said.

This year’s drive is designed to reach out to African-Americans, Hmong, American Indians, Hispanic and Caucasian children.

Book donations for the Give-a-Kid-a-Book project will be accepted at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, 400 Eau Claire Road, and Borders Books Music & Caf‚, 4030 Commonwealth Drive, from Nov. 30 to Dec. 13.

The SWEA is equally involved in the drive, collecting books in the lower level of Davies Center, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Dec. 3 to 5.

SWEA also will be collecting donations from 2 to 5 p.m. Dec. 8 at the University Holiday Concerts.