More than 100 little hands thumbed through the pages of brand new books at Robert Mitchell Elementary School Friday.

"Now you have to make me a couple of promises," Sparks High School teacher Patti McClelland said before letting the children pick out their own books. "You have to promise to take care of them ... and you have to promise to read them."

With the help of Sparks High School, McClelland has purchased about 3,000 books to give away to various Sparks schools. The books are intended for the children to keep and read at home.

"When you come to Sparks High School I want to make sure you love to read," she told the Mitchell school children.

While little eyes looked over pictures from "Clifford the Big Red Dog" and "Ameilia Bedilia," teachers gave their thanks for the gifts.

"When they get that book and get to write their name in it, they get that sense of ownership," Morgan Langtinn, a sixth grade teacher at Mitchell Elementary. "They want to read it to comprehend now, and it is valuable to them."

The books, which will be handed out at seven local elementary and middle schools, cost more than $5,000. About $500 of that amount was contributed by Sparks High School and the rest was gathered through private donations and a charity golf event that McClelland hosts every year.

Sparks High School's contribution to the program did not stop with the money. Five members of the school's Block S club spent Friday helping elementary school students pick out their own books, reading with the students and setting up the event.

The high school students started at Mitchell Elementary school at 9:30 a .m. and then handed out more books at Lincoln Park Elementary that afternoon. The students had also given out books at Kate Smith Elementary on Thursday.

"We just want them to know that reading is important," said Danae Moser, an 18-year-old member of the Block S club and a Sparks student.

"And (we want them to know) that it is a part of everything even if you are doing sports," fellow club member Kelly Lax, 16, chimed in.

The club has existed at Sparks High School since the 1920s, said Gregg Shugar, the club’s advisor. However, it is attempting a rebirth this year after being barely existent for about 15 years.

"This is our first venture into the community," Shugar said. "We are trying to make it more something for these kids to help out in the community."

And although McClelland has been giving out books for the past 13 years, she said the high school students’ involvement adds something for the elementary school kids.

"It is important for the high school students to take the lead," she said. "They (the elementary students) really look up to these high school students."

The 25 members of the club are all athletes.

Shugar was a member of the club when he attended Sparks High School several years ago.

"When I was going here it was basically who had a letterman's jacket," he said.