COEUR d'ALENE — Greta Gissel said that children who are not grade proficient readers by the time they reach fifth grade are four times more likely to end up dropping out of school.

That fact was the center of a discussion Gissel had with Dave Eubanks two years ago about the number of students in the Coeur d'Alene School District who are not reading at or above grade level. The duo ultimately came up with Jingle Books — the idea of giving out books to every kindergartener through third grade student in the district.

"The time to catch them is in those formative years, those early years," Eubanks said. "And that's what Jingle Books is all about."

Last year's inaugural drive received 15,462 books from members of the community, which gave each kindergarten through third-grade student the chance to select three books. Eubanks called the first drive a phenomenal success and was all smiles while describing the seriousness of students going through the book fair to select their three titles.

"This effort helps our kids learn to read and it does not cost the taxpayers a dime," Eubanks said. "The cover price of the books we raised last year was over $200,000."

Eubanks and Gissel are raising the bar just north of 20,000 books for this year's drive, which Gissel said would enable the program to give five books to each student.

"The great thing about Jingle Books is that we don't ask people to go out and spend money, we ask them to give us what they already have out there on their shelves — used books," Gissel said.

Volunteers then sort through the donated books, which are the brought to each elementary school in the district. The week before Christmas break, students get to walk through aisles of books and select their favorites to bring home.

"That's a critical element because when you get to take the book that you get to read there's a lot more power involved with having the selection in your own hands," Gissel added.

Eubanks added that children's books in particular, especially those filled with colorful images and adventure, gives kids extra motivation to read while building a strong foundation of proficiency. That foundation is essential to the learning process later down the road.

"Starting in fourth grade, the expectation is that they will read to learn," Eubanks said. "If you're not prepared to read to learn, you're going to struggle. Often times, those students end up falling behind and in the long run they might drop out of school."

"If you can't read the information then you're not learning," Gissel added. "That then overflows into all of the other subjects."

Jingle Books organizers will be accepting used books, the content of which is intended for elementary students, through Dec. 8. Every school in the Coeur d'Alene School District, as well as participating businesses and organizations, will have a wrapped box where residents can drop off titles.

"Anyone who wants to help us address this issue of early childhood literacy, we are more than happy to provide a box to them," Eubanks said. "We would really love to get some churches involved in it this year too."

For more information on where to drop off used books, or how to get a donation box, contact Gissel at (208) 819-8345 or by email at greta.gissel@gmail.com.