With one week left in the Jingle Books campaign, organizers said they are two-thirds of the way to their goal of getting 40,000 new or gently used children’s books.

The books will be distributed to all kindergarten through third-graders that attend public school in Kootenai County.

Ending Dec. 8, the book drive has donation stations at public schools and many churches, businesses and both hospitals in the county.

“Our hope is to give all of our littlest learners — around 6,500 children in the Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Lakeland, Kootenai, and Plummer-Worley school districts — their choice of six reading books to take, read, and keep in order to help improve their reading ability,” said Coeur d’Alene school board member Dave Eubanks.

Jingle Books was founded to fight illiteracy in K-3 students. According to Eubanks, illiteracy correlates with crime and poverty. He said if students aren’t at a proficient reading level by third grade, they run a much higher risk of dropping out of school.

“If we can do something to mitigate poverty and crime by getting kids to read proficiently by the end of third grade, I don’t think we have a choice but to do it,” Eubanks said. “The best gift to give this holiday season is the gift of literacy.”