Fourth-grade teacher Michelle Conklin looked on as a representative from her class picked up a bundle of books wrapped in a white ribbon and topped with a bow and a single balloon.

"These books really help out and get them reading," Conklin said after her student passed her the stack.

At a welcome-back assembly yesterday at 'Ewa Beach Elementary School, students were given $3,000 in new books by the U.S. Navy. It was done as part of a two-year-old partnership between Naval Magazine Pearl Harbor and the school.

"They ask us, 'What do you need a lot of,' and of course we always say books," said principal Eileen Hirota.

The books go to help a school program launched eight years ago called the 25 Books Campaign — a year-round program that encourages students to read, and gets the community and parents involved in the learning process.

"Research shows that if you read 25 books or more a year, then your comprehension goes up," Hirota said. But for the younger children who aren't quite ready to read novels, the number is about 160 short books, she said.

Cathy Leggett, 43, has a second-grader and a fifth-grader at 'Ewa Beach Elementary. She said she notices a difference in the attitudes her younger children have toward reading as opposed to her older child who went to the school before the program existed.

"They just have more of a passion; it's a daily thing," she said.

Leggett's younger son and daughter come home from school wanting to read and ask her to read with them, she said. "I think it must be how teachers present it to them that makes them so excited."

This is the second year the U.S. Navy has helped to purchase books for each classroom. But that's not all they've done. Every spring, Navy volunteers go to classrooms to read to students as a part of the school's Community Read Aloud.

"We are a part of this community. What better way to give back to the community than through the kids," said Cmdr. Mark Sevilla.

Conklin said her fourth-graders love having the sailors come read for her class. "Whenever we have involvement from anyone in the community, it always gets the kids excited," Conklin said.

The donated books are added to the reading library of each class and students are allowed to borrow the books for at-home reading.

But getting kids to take home a book and actually read it wasn't always easy.

Eight years ago when the reading program was launched, it was difficult to get parents in the habit of reading with their child and including them in encouraging healthy reading habits, Hirota said. Since then, she said, parents have become much more supportive of the school's effort.

"Now the problem is very different — we don't have enough books," Hirota said.