CASWELL – As pupils are sitting down to laptops in the classroom and pulling up to desktop computers at night, it is easy to forget that some families are struggling to provide their children with even the most basic school supplies.

But one woman in southern Maine hasn’t forgotten.

She has spearheaded an effort to send children in the tiny town of Caswell back to school with knapsacks full of school supplies.

Ruth Libby, who runs Ruth’s Reusable Resources in Scarborough, came up with the idea to help children throughout the state.

Charles Hartman, principal at the Dawn F. Barnes Elementary School in Caswell, said Sunday that Libby proposed the idea to him a few months ago.

“I got an e-mail from her first,” said Hartman, also a teacher at the school. “She told me what the program was and I said ‘Hey, why not?’ I went down to Saco and met with her and she is going to deliver the bags in a couple of weeks.”

Hartman said that Libby logged on to the state Department of Education’s Web site and discovered that pupils at the Caswell school receive a high percentage of free and reduced-cost hot lunches. The figure affected Libby’s decision to expand the program to Aroostook County.

The backpacks for the 51 pupils at the school will be stuffed with supplies that businesses and individuals have donated, including pencils and notebooks.

Teachers are also slated to receive gift cards in order to purchase supplies for their classrooms, according to Hartman.

The principal said that the lack of school supplies is not a huge problem in the area, but it can be taxing for parents to get their students fully equipped in such a modest town.

“We’re a very small community, and there are not a lot of big stores around here,” Hartman said. “I get plenty of grant money to buy computers, but I see kids coming to school without certain supplies and you want to give them all that they need. And she [Libby] wanted to give bags to everyone, not just to those that couldn’t afford the supplies, which is great.”

Schools in Scarborough, Saco and Cape Elizabeth are also receiving supplies, and Libby hopes to bestow similar gifts on schools in Milo, Steuben and Vanceboro.

Although Caswell pupils will return to classes in a few weeks, the principal said that he was going to hold off on telling his five fellow teachers the complete details about the program.

“They know a little bit right now,” Hartman said Sunday. “But I’m going to wait until they see the truck pulling up [with the supplies] until I tell it all.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.