The First Book Campus Advisory Board at Lewis-Clark State College has awarded the equivalent of 8,200 children’s books to community-based literacy programs in north central Idaho and southeastern Washington through book grants, the board announced.

The First Book Campus Advisory Board at LCSC is part of First Book’s national network of community volunteers who support First Book’s mission. Comprised of volunteers from the community, the First Book Campus Advisory Board works to promote and facilitate the distribution of new books to literacy programs in the area served by Lewis-Clark State College. Since its inception, First Book has distributed more than 35 million books to children nationwide.

The LCSC campus advisory board reviewed applications from tutoring, mentoring or family literacy programs that work with disadvantaged children. The winners were selected based on meeting certain criteria.

The grant winners receive catalogs from Scholastic, Simon & Shuster, Random House and HarperCollins. The winners can use grant funds to purchase books directly from the publisher at an average cost of $2.50 per book.

Also, the selected winners receive Community Starter books, which were donated by Scholastic to help new First Book advisory boards get started. The book collections are available for readers from pre-kindergarten through young adult.

This year’s selected winners include the Lewis-Clark Early Childhood Education for 5,000 books ($2,500 grant and 2,500 Community Starter books), Grantham Elementary Grizzly Readers in Clarkston for 2,200 books ($1,250 grant and 1,700 Community Starter books), YWCA Reading Program of Lewiston for 300 books ($375 grant and 150 Community Starter books), The Learning Club of the Asotin County Library for 300 books ($250 grant and 200 Community Starter books), and Nezperce Elementary School in Nezperce and the Weippe Public Library, for 200 books apiece ($250 grant and 100 Community Starter books).

The books will be used within the reading curriculum of these literacy programs.

The books will then be given to children to take home and keep. The goal is to help children from low-income families begin home libraries. According to Charlette Kremer, Coordinator of First Book-LCSC, studies show that 61 percent of families living below the poverty line have no books in their homes.

Kremer estimates First Book-LCSC will benefit more than 800 disadvantaged children who are enrolled in literacy programs in the area.

The LCSC advisory board includes Colleen Mahoney of Lewiston and former member of the Idaho State Board of Education, Jana Leachman, coordinator of residence life at LCSC, Mike Busch, owner of Rosie’s Ribs in Lewiston, Mike Naccarato, retired firefighter and former state representative of Lewiston, Darlene Bacon, a retired social worker from Lewiston, Misato Sawa, an LCSC international student, Samantha Franklin, a librarian at LCSC, Judy Smith, an administrative assistant in the Natural Science Division at LCSC, Gini Ripley, an administrative assistant in the LCSC Adult Learning Center, Karen Burton, coordinator of the LCSC Learning Resource Center, Donna Callahan, director of the LCSC Adult and Family Education Program, Johnette Moore, a retired teacher, Judy Wutzke of the Lewiston Kiwanis, Verna Fisher and Joan Hagedorn of the YWCA Book Club, and Tammy Wilborn, Don Jones and Linda Remer, all LCSC students.

First Book is a national nonprofit organization with a mission: to provide low-income children with their first new books. On campuses around the country, First Book Campus Advisory Boards unite leaders from all sectors of the community to provide books to children in literacy programs, shelters for battered children, housing projects, soup kitchens, after-school programs and other community-based efforts that reach children living below the poverty line. For more information on First Book or to donate a book to a child who needs it visit www.firstbook.org.

For more information on First Book and the First Book-LCSC Campus Advisory Board book grant process, please contact Kremer at (208) 792-2084.