EPHRATA - The Bookery in Ephrata is one of 23 independent Washington book stores hosting a "Books for Kids" drive through next Friday.

Locally owned bookstores in communities across the state are encouraging their customers to purchase and donate new children's books to the drive, which is sponsored by the Page Ahead Children's Literacy Program and Northwest Book Lovers.

The Bookery, located at 1 Basin Street Northwest, is offering customers 40 percent off their children's book donation when they buy another book at full price, according to owner Stephanie Hawkins.

"We have a good selection of locally authored children's books along with your usual selection of national books," she said.

All books collected during the drive will be distributed to children in need through Page Ahead, which is the leading provider of children's books and literacy services in Washington state, according to information provided by the agency. Over the past 21 years, Page Ahead has partnered with schools, libraries and social service programs to give away more than 2.2 million new books to roughly 650,000 children in need.

Susan Waller, Page Ahead's fundraising coordinator, said the books are brought to the agency's central office where they're prepared for distribution across the state.

"We need to provide a wide variety of books to all our kids so that everybody gets something they're interested in," she said. "For instance, there are areas in the state, Yakima for example, where we need a lot of books in Spanish. We make sure to send the right books to the right kids. So, we do the sorting here in Seattle and send them out."

For efficiency sake, Page Ahead doubles up with elementary and pre-schools, Head Start, tribal agencies and social services programs to get the books where they'll be best utilized, Waller said.

"We do give many books in Grant County," she said. "I feel like I can tell people they're supporting their local community, even if I can't promise them that particular copy of "Green Eggs and Ham" is going to a kid down the street. You're still keeping your money in your neighborhood."

More information about Page Ahead is available at www.pageahead.org.

The Bookery can be contacted at 509-754-5321.