The Greenville-Butler County Public Library set out Monday to help create the next generation of bookworms by giving more than 200 books to area first graders.

The books were part of the library’s children’s collection. Those that were part of the giveaway had not been checked out in at least four years.

“A library has to weed out its collection periodically to make room for new materials,” said Library Director Kevin Pearcey. “We still wanted to keep these books in the community so we thought it was a good idea to allow the first graders at each school the opportunity to select one book they could keep and enjoy. I was really excited to see the children’s expressions this morning and I think they had fun browsing the books and finding one of their own.”

More than 200 first graders from W.O. Parmer Elementary School stopped by the library to select their book from those set aside for the giveaway. Students from Georgiana School, McKenzie School and Fort Dale Academy were also invited to participate.

Pearcey thanked W.O. Parmer Elementary School principal Catherine Tanner and the teachers for allowing the students to participate, as well as children’s librarian Lee Johnson and Pat Tucker for their work on the project.