Henderson-based nonprofit has 300,000-plus books ready to hand out next school year

Lisa Habighorst knows the impact literature can have on children. Through Spread the Word Nevada, which provides students with free books every month, students’ lives are being changed.

“One student said it brought the world to their neighborhood,” said Habighorst, the Henderson-based nonprofit’s executive director. “They wouldn’t have that if it weren’t for books.”

But often, students don’t have access to books, which has an impact on their literacy skills.

“It hurts my heart kids don’t have books in their homes,” Habighorst said. “I couldn’t allow that.”

Spread the Word Nevada is trying to collect enough books so students from at-risk elementary schools will have a new one every month. Last year, it collected more than 425,000 books to give to schools across Clark County. Currently, it has about 375,000 books stored and ready for the upcoming school year.

It started in 2001 when Laurie Hartig, a local teacher, noticed during book fairs that certain students weren’t financially able to purchase books.

“They were always bummed about it,” Habighorst said.

Hartig decided to collect books for those students so they could have something during those fairs. When it came time for her to retire, she wanted to give back. She thought of those students who didn’t have books and decided to collect resources for them.

Going to friends, she was able to gather books for students at McCaw Elementary School, 330 Tin St.

When Habighorst came on board with the project a few months later, Hartig already had three schools in the program. Together, they would collect and clean books to distribute to low-income schools.

In a spare bedroom of Habighorst’s house, the duo began to store more books for students. Habighorst enlisted her husband and friends to clean them.

In time, they outgrew the space. In a storage area in Habighorst’s backyard, she created a new area to put the books.

“We built an office,” she said. “At that time, we had a staff of eight. We would have meetings around my kitchen table.”

That first year, Habighorst estimated they collected more than 5,000 books. Within a year of collecting books, they had started Spread the Word. It was initially called Kids to Kids.

The premise was to pass out books to students in kindergarten through fifth grade once a month. When students first begin the program, they get five books, which is reduced to one book per month throughout their time in elementary school.

In order to be a part of the program, Habighorst said the organization looks for a few things in schools — they must be a one- or two-star school, must have literacy scores under 60 percent and have 80 percent of the students receive free or reduced lunches.

“There are 75 schools that meet those standards,” she said.

When they first began, Habighorst and Hartig would say if they could get into 10 schools, they would feel accomplished.

“Then it was a dozen schools,” Habighorst said. “If we got into a dozen schools, we would be fine.”

It’s been more than a decade, and the organization is in 42 schools.

“There is a wait list,” Habighorst added.

Each year, the organization plans to add to the number of schools it services, with plans to be in 60 by 2019.

“We take on six a year,” Habighorst said.

But adding more schools means the nonprofit needs more books. Once the organization started serving 30 schools, it realized the donations it was receiving were not enough. In addition to donations, it set up a partnership with Goodwill and other groups to purchase children’s books at low rates.

With an army of volunteers, Spread the Word Nevada holds cleanings multiple times throughout the week to make gently used books look somewhat new. In the last few years, it has also looked beyond just providing books for students.

To make sure students are reading throughout the year, even on summer break, the nonprofit started a summer reading program. It is partnering with organizations such as the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada for the 10-week program. It also started a mentor program that partners volunteers from the community with students. Once a week, mentors go in to read and offer literacy support to students.

Habighorst said, for whatever reason, sometimes parents aren’t reading with their children when they are out of school.

“Some are working two or three jobs and just don’t have time,” she said. “We want to be able to fill that void.”

The organization has attracted many mentors and volunteers such as Linda Hartwig.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “It turned out to be the absolute highlight of my week.”

When she and her husband moved to Henderson, she said they wanted to find a way to give back to the community. On a larger scale, she knows the importance of the program.

“The importance of children learning to read and the impact that Spread the Word Nevada has had on me has made me a better person,” she said. “I’m honored to help them in any small way that I can to expand their mission.”

But the two students she mentors every week give her an inside look of the impact it has created.

“To see the absolute joy on their faces when I turned up each week was confirmation that the program and the consistency of the one-on-one attention was making a difference,” she said.

After getting the program in all the schools in Southern Nevada, Habighorst wants to expand to Northern Nevada.

“After that, maybe we will spread to other states,” she said.

In the meantime, the organization is always looking for volunteers to help organize and clean books or mentors to read to students throughout the year.

“Everyone can do something to make a change in your community,” Habighorst said.

For more information about Spread the Word Nevada, 1065 American Pacific Drive, Suite 160, or to volunteer, visit spreadthewordnevada.org, call 702-564-7809 or email info@spreadthewordnevada.org.

To reach Henderson View reporter Michael Lyle, email mlyle@viewnews.com or call 702-387-5201. Find him on Twitter: @mjlyle.