Spreading the word, indeed: In less than five years, Spread the Word Nevada's Kids to Kids program has distributed 485,000 books to 46,000 children in 10 Clark County schools.

Lisa Habighorst, Spread the Word Nevada's executive director, said the organization was born in 2001 when founder Laurie Porter was inspired by a program she'd heard about in the eastern United States, in which sets of five books were placed in bags and distributed to at-risk kids.

Porter, Habighorst said, is a former librarian who worked with at-risk children. She "wanted to keep her hand in giving books to kids. She thought, 'We can do better. Nevada can always do better. Let's tweak it and really do something for our at-risk kids,' " Habighorst said.

The result was Kids to Kids, which currently is in 10 local schools -- soon to be 11 -- and was recognized in October as the Outstanding Charity of the Year by the Nevada Community Foundation.

It works this way: The program adopts a school with many at-risk kids. At the kickoff celebration, each child receives a canvas bag to hold his or her books. (Most of the children are homeless or transient, Habighorst explained, and the bags give them a place to keep their books.) Each child gets to choose five books for his or her bag, and then once a month, the program returns to the school and each child is given another book to add to his or her collection.

But it doesn't end there.

"Once a week, we have a bookstore where they can trade among their friends and what's in stock, so they can keep their libraries alive and entertaining," Habighorst said. "It's a long time to wait for a book, once a month."

The purpose of the program is simply to make books available to kids.

"We know that at-risk and low-income children don't have books at home at their reading level," Habighorst said.

And, she noted, in an area with a high Hispanic population, "we're actually helping the whole family to learn English." All of the books, she said, are English or bilingual. "We try not to give out Spanish books. We really feel that they need to learn English."

The program initially involved only kids in kindergarten through third grade, but has been extended to fourth- and fifth-graders.

Where do all those books come from? Habighorst said about 30 percent are from publishers' overstock or donations, about 20 percent are purchased with grants and the other half are "gently used" books donated by families. Used books can be dropped off at Barnes & Noble bookstores, she said, and four senior centers clean the donations each week, making sure they're in ready-to-read condition. Those that aren't in sufficient condition to be given to the kids in the program are made available for teachers to use in their classrooms.

"Everything gets pretty much used," she said.

There are books for adults, too, with the Breakfast With Books program in which, once a month, kids are invited to bring their parents, who are given teaching tips and offered books of their own.

Kids to Kids is supported by two major fundraisers each year. The third annual Storybook Gala in September raised more than $30,000. During Nevada Reading Week in late winter, the program sponsors Pennies for Pages, during which children in the program's schools collect pledges for the pages they read.

Habighorst said Spread the Word Nevada has seven part-time staff members and about 15 volunteers.

"We can always use volunteers to join the cleaning parties or if they would like to drive and deliver books each month or pick up books for us," she said. Volunteers also can help with the program's fundraisers.

To make a donation, volunteer or obtain more information on Spread the Word Nevada Kids to Kids, call 564-7809.