OMAHA- Seeking to eliminate “book deserts” in Nebraska, the State Department of Education has directed $2 million toward getting more than a half-million books into households with the youngest Nebraskans. The Nebraska Growing Readers effort kicked off with books distributed to Educare of Omaha at Indian Hill, one of 18 urban and rural childcare providers and other sites that will help get the books to families.

Education Commissioner Brian Maher, Mary Jo Pankoke, president and chief executive of Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, and Suzanne Pillen monitored the distribution process by stopping by classrooms. A state education spokesman said the $2 million comes from the department’s pandemic-related federal allotment of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds.

Available books are generally filled with pictures, ranging in topics from family to animals, organizers said, and are accessible in Spanish and other languages if desired. The initial phase is to reach 16,000 children, 12,000 households and 1,000 early childhood providers, and organizers said they hope to get a series of books into each household.

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