The Idaho Lottery will announce this year’s Lewiston recipient of their annual Bucks for Books program during a school ceremony at Whitman Elementary in Lewiston on Wednesday morning at 9:30.
Whitman Elementary is one of three schools receiving the awards this year in northern Idaho. The school is receiving $3,000 for new book acquisitions.
According to a news release from the Idaho Lottery, this year’s awards will total $50,000 spread among schools across the state. Bucks for Books is done by the Idaho Lottery in collaboration with the Idaho Commission for Libraries.
According to the Idaho Commission for Libraries, in Idaho, a majority of all public schools lack sufficient resources for their entire annual library needs. About 28% of public elementary schools report an annual budget of $100 or less for book procurement, while 62% of Idaho’s elementary schools report an annual budget of less than $1,000. This is why the Idaho Lottery, in coordination with the Idaho Commission for Libraries, introduced its Books for Bucks Idaho School Library Program in 2019.
The Idaho Lottery was created specifically to benefit public education in the State of Idaho. Supporting elementary school libraries, and youth literacy through the Bucks for Books program, is yet another way to further their mission of benefiting public schools.
Since 2019, the Idaho Lottery’s Bucks for Books program has made 126 awards totaling $325,000.
