Dr. Smithson Ahiabuike holds one of his books, Whispers of Love, on Oct. 6 at his home in Gadsden. Proceeds from book sales will be used to ship books to the Nigerian village Eluama-Isuikwuato, where he grew up.

GADSDEN | Dr. Smithson Buchi Ahiabuike, known as Dr. A.B. at Riverview Regional Medical Center, craved the written word when he was growing up in Nigeria.

But it was hard to come by.

"My father didn't go to school," Ahiabuike said. "We had very little."

There certainly was no money for books.

Books were a rarity at school, as well.

And there was no library within a 100-mile radius of his village of Eluama-Isuikwuato.

There still isn't.

That's something Ahiabuike wants to change.

The hospitalist is more than a doctor. He is a published poet. He plans to use proceeds from his second volume of verse, "Whispers of Love," to ship books to Eluama-Isuikwuato. If he collects enough books and raises enough money, he hopes to build a library.

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Alabama doctor has hopes of building library in Nigeria