Bullhead City Teacher the Inspiration Behind
The Great Book Giveaway!

BULLHEAD CITY – March 21, 2008 – As stunned fourth-grade teacher Kristin Higgs stood in front of her classroom five years ago, she simply couldn’t believe her ears!

Higgs, who teaches at Mountain View Elementary School, approached her students with what she thought was a routine homework assignment.  She wanted them to go home every night and practice reading.

No big deal, right?

Higgs was stunned to learn her “routine” home work assignment wasn’t nearly as routine as she believed.  Instead, she was hit with some shocking news -- her students couldn’t do the assignment because they literally didn’t have any books at home.

“At first I didn’t believe it,” Higgs said.  “Then I began to realize the students were actually telling the truth.  Mountain View is located in a very low socio-economic area, and books are expensive.    Parents who are struggling for money and trying to put food on the table aren’t going to have money for books.”

Higgs was immediately inspired to start the Great Book Giveaway, a program that would guarantee Mountain View’s students could practice reading at home, regardless of their family financial situation.  

Over the five years of the program’s existence, Higgs estimates that more than 1,000 books have been given away through the program.  She said the Great Book Giveaway has been successful thanks to close community partnerships with the local Kiwanis and Rotary Clubs, the Mountain View and Bullhead City libraries as well as through grants from the Legacy Foundation.   

Through the generosity of everyone involved, the Mountain View Elementary School Great Book Giveaway has routinely been able to provide each student with one new or gently used book per month during the school year.

“The kids don’t really care if the books are new or gently used,” Higgs said.  “They just want something to read. 

“The most amazing thing to me is when they say, ‘You mean we actually don’t have to give these books back?’ They’re so excited that they actually get to keep them.”
 
She said inspiration for the Great Book Giveaway came from a program she learned about as a teacher in Las Vegas.  The program encouraged students from wealthier school districts to donate gently used books to students in disadvantaged areas.