Crapo To Hand Out Free Books On Saturday

Washington, DC â?? Organizations from throughout the state will be in Twin Falls on Saturday to pick up books for low-income students, and Idaho Senator Mike Crapo will be on hand to help load the shipments. Crapo has partnered with the national nonprofit First Book program to give away 100,000 books in Idaho, and groups from as far away as Worley, Nampa, Montpelier, Riggins, Lewiston, and Coeur dâ??Alene will be picking up books for distribution in their local communities. Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Marilyn Howard, Idaho Education Association President Kathy Phelan, and Twin Falls Mayor Lance Clow will also assist in the book distribution. Distribution is scheduled for Saturday, June 21, from 1 to 3 p.m. Mountain at Twin Falls City Hall, 305 3rd Avenue, East, Twin Falls. At that time, Crapo will also present a Spirit of Idaho award to â??Grandmaâ?? Gay Reese, a reading volunteer at Lincoln Elementary School in Twin Falls, for her contributions to literacy in the Magic Valley.â??It has been so exciting to see the reception that the First Book program has been given in the Magic Valley,â?? Crapo said. â??This program has had phenomenal success in reaching out to lower-income students and giving them the opportunity to own books. The volunteers in the Magic Valley who have helped sort and box the books have also been outstanding. It is so important that we encourage our students to read, and this effort has been remarkable so far in the attention it has received from the Idaho communities. I hope that we can bring First Book back to Idaho again and again and again.â??Organizations picking up books on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday include: Boise-Friends of Children & Families Inc. Head Start; Coeur dâ??Alene-ICARE, Inc.; Idaho Falls-EISSA Head Start; Nampa-Treasure Valley Reading Foundation; Montpelier-EILNET Library Consortium; Pocatello-SEICAA Childrens Service, United Way of SE Idaho/Success By 6; Preston-Bear River Head Start; Worley, Plummer/Worley School District; as well as a number of groups from Twin Falls, Jerome, Blackfoot, Dubois, and other communities throughout Idaho. A full list of participants is available by calling the contact information listed above.Since 1992, the First Book program has been giving away books to children from low-income families. In the last two years alone, the program has provided almost 15 million new books to children throughout the country. First Bookâ??s National Rural Initiative, which operates in conjunction with Scholastic, Inc., offers rural communities a chance to reach out to children in need and provide them with books. There are currently three First Book Advisory Boards operating in Idaho: Pocatello, Idaho Falls, and Shoshone County/Kellogg. To learn more about First Book, please go to http://www.firstbook.org. Scholastic Corporation (NMS:SCHL) is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, textbooks, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, videos and toys. The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs, school-based book fairs, school-based and direct-to-home continuity programs; retail stores, schools, libraries, and television networks; and the Company's Internet Site, www.scholastic.com.# # #