Bliss Elementary - Bucks for Books

This Donation will buy a book for Bliss Elementary in Bliss. Their Librarian says "Bliss is a small, agricultural town. Our district’s K-12 enrollment is 127. The majority of our students live in poverty. Kids are easily discouraged because of poverty and low expectations. Time and money are scarce and books may be considered a costly luxury. Consequently, literacy is low-priority. Most of the incentive to read comes from within the children themselves.
Due to our library’s limited selection, teachers often buy read aloud books at thrift shops or check them out from other libraries. Some students choose to not take home library books because they do not want to upset their parents by losing or damaging books. (We recently stopped charging parents because of the effect it has on families.)
Students are really inspired to read by what is popular, or by new movies that come out. The books we have in our library are old looking and not popular. Books with new themes and trendy books would grab the attention of our students and excite them to read. A good example of this is students really love the “I Survived” series because they are the new books on the cover of Scholastic News. Kids living in poverty own mostly “old and tattered everything.” A new, shiny book is attractive to them and truly gets them excited about reading.
Having more books in our library would allow students to check out more than two books per week. Students who are concerned about lost or damaged books could take older books home and leave the newer books in their classroom. Also, being able to check out more than two books per week would allow students to keep books in each household."

In 2019, the Idaho Lottery learned 28 percent of Idaho elementary schools had a library budget of less than $100 per year for book procurement. In reality, it would take nearly $8,000 every year per school to maintain the library collection students need to succeed. With that in mind, the Idaho Lottery worked with the Idaho Commission for Libraries to start Bucks For Books. Literacy has been a focus of Idaho Governor Brad Little since he took office in 2019. Getting all Idaho students reading at grade level by the third grade is imperative as that is the point where students transition from learning-to-read to reading-to-learn. Having a well-stocked library and the ability for all students to take books home is crucial in getting all Idaho students where they need to be.