From Bear Lake’s windswept shores near Paris, to the rainy woodlands of north Idaho near Oldtown, from the neighborhood schools of Idaho Falls to the community school in Idaho City, the Idaho Lottery canvased the entire Gem State delivering books for young elementary school readers this November as part of their annual Bucks for Books campaign.

In total, 17 schools received $50,000 in awards for new book acquisition for elementary school libraries. In every school visited, the passion for reading, and working with young students to improve their literacy, was the same.

“We are a small mountain school that serves a lot of students who love reading. We have students who come in daily to get their new books after finishing one the night before. Especially now in the winter months, staying inside, being nice and warm and cozy by the fire reading, books are that bridge to experience different worlds,” said Tristin Taylor, Librarian at Basin Elementary in Idaho City whose small library is in the school’s basement. “This award means everything. A lot of our books have been well loved. I take a lot of them home to tape them and hot glue them back together as much as I can. It means the world to us and will make a huge difference. Thank you.”

In so many schools, the experience was similar.

In Oldtown, enthusiastic students and prolific readers cheered excitedly when the award was presented as the students eagerly helped their librarian to open the box of freshly delivered books.

At Temple View Elementary in Idaho Falls, the full school assembly cheered wildly at the opportunity of purchasing hundreds of new books for their library.

A young boy named Grayson triumphantly raised a new book he had requested that was part of the delivery at Rulon Ellis Elementary in Chubbuck.

Jennifer Simpson, the librarian at Hazel T. Stuart Elementary in Shelley hopes to fill her barren shelves with the new books that will soon arrive as the result of the award.

In Paris, a similar story continued. Elementary School Librarian Linda Stock had created a classic Harry Potter themed reading section, complete with floating candles that are wand activated. Her challenge, like so many others, was getting new books to her rural location.

“We appreciate the Idaho Lottery making the long trip to visit our small school and make us feel connected to the state and not forgotten. These books will have a huge impact on our students as they get to experience titles and stories they’ve been asking for and explore worlds beyond our community through their imagination,” said Stock.

Bucks for Books is a program offered between the Idaho Lottery and the Idaho

Commission for the Libraries. Now when its sixth year, the program has awarded 126 schools a total of $325,000 for new books and to improve early education literacy.

The program is one additional way the Idaho Lottery connects with its beneficiaries for improving public schools and education in Idaho.

Sixteen of the seventeen schools this year received $3,000 each for new book acquisition. McMillan Elementary in Boise received $2,000. Here is the list of this year’s Idaho recipients:

Basin Elementary, Idaho City

Declo Elementary, Declo

Falls Valley Elementary, Idaho Falls

Harwood Elementary, Rigby

Hazel T. Stuart Elementary, Shelley

Idaho Hill Elementary, Oldtown

J.R. Simplot Elementary, American Falls

Lakeside Elementary, Plummer

McMillan Elementary, Boise

Paris Elementary, Paris

Ririe Elementary, Ririe

River Valley Elementary, Meridian

Rockland Elementary, Rockland

Rulon Ellis Elementary, Chubbuck

Temple View Elementary, Idaho Falls

Valley Elementary, Rockland

Whitman Elementary, Lewiston