Local third-graders who want to know the meaning of generosity can ask a local Rotary member. But, they might get one of those familiar responses that adults are known to give. “Why don’t you look it up in the dictionary?”

It would not be a crass suggestion though, rather, a serious inquiry.

The Austin Rotary Club will present 401 dictionaries to Austin area third-graders next week. The books, valued at $3,460 were dropped off at the schools Wednesday.

Dan Heins, Rotary treasurer, has been coordinating the project in Austin since 2002.

“The goal is to have every third-grader, at every school, own a dictionary,” Heins said.

The Rotary raised money for the dictionaries through its dues and its annual Chicken and Corn Feed fundraiser.

Scholastic school dictionaries are purchased through the district, which means the Rotary gets a bit of a discount that helps them to purchase enough, Heins said.

“It has been a nice way to give back for us,” Heins said of the project.

For non-third-graders, generosity is a noun that means “the condition of being willing and ready to give,” according to Scholastic’s abbreviated online dictionary.