About 30 percent of Evans County's estimated 1,000 children under 5 years old receive one free book each month through the efforts of the Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy and its local supporters. The group hopes the gift will help improve literacy and even the local economy in years to come. "The light bulb that came on in my mind was information that Evans County received when we were finalists for an industry and ended up not being chosen, and they were kind enough to tell us why," said Evans County Probate Judge Darin McCoy.