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Help SDHC Get Free Books to South Dakota Third Graders!

July 26, 2025

As students and teachers alike enjoy the waning days of summer vacation, the South Dakota Humanities Council is gearing up for a big book distribution to start the new school year.

As we have done for the past 11 years, SDHC will deliver copies of the Young Readers One Book to third graders across the state. Nearly 15,000 copies of the 2025 selection, Wings of an Eagle: The Gold Medal Dreams of Billy Mills, will arrive in the SDHC office – and two other locations – in August.    

YOU can help us share these books with South Dakota’s young readers!

  • Donate to SDHC to cover remaining book and program costs
  • Place sponsor stickers on the books before they go to students
  • Deliver books to schools in areas where you live or travel

To volunteer for stickering or delivery, call (605) 688-6113 or e-mail stacy@sdhumanities.org.

Publication of the special edition of Wings of an Eagle would not be possible without support from Larson Family Foundation, John T. Vucurevich Foundation, First Bank & Trust, South Dakota Statewide Family Engagement Center, and Valley Queen Charitable Foundation. THANK YOU to these generous sponsors!

The book’s co-authors, Billy Mills and Donna Janell Bowman, and its illustrator, S.D. Nelson, will speak to thousands of third graders at the 2025 Young Readers Festival in Rapid City on Thursday, September 25, and in Spearfish on Friday–Saturday, September 26–27, with some events livestreamed and recorded for viewing by students in other parts of the state.

The Young Readers Program began in 2014 with just a few thousand books distributed to third graders across South Dakota. In 2024, that total grew to more than 14,000 books distributed to students at 381 public, private, tribal, and BIE schools across the state. SDHC hopes to add the state’s population of homeschooled third graders to that total this year.

For further information about SDHC’s Young Readers Program, please call (605) 688-6113, e-mail info@sdhumanities.org, or visit our Young Readers webpage.

Learn more about humanities programming in South Dakota by signing up for SDHC e-Updates!