MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Students in Minneapolis and St. Paul are getting a nice surprise Tuesday morning as both districts are getting a large book donation from Target.

Target officials said they are on track to donate up to $1 billion to education by the end of 2015, and this week Target team members will be in schools across the Twin Cities giving away more than 19,000 books to about 9,000 students. Officials said having quality reading material is what can keep kids reading between Kindergarten and third grade.

Target officials said they wanted to ensure that students across the Twin Cities in those grade levels need to have access to quality written materials over their holiday break to keep reading. Instead of playing video games, they’re encouraged to curl up and read a good book.

Every school involved in the campaign will receive bags from Target filled with a few books for students to read. Officials are also urging parents to read with their children on a daily basis over the holiday break. They also urge parents over their kids’ holiday break to help them with shopping lists, have them read in the car or talk about what they see during the day and even help with thank you notes to keep up communication and literacy skills.