a group of kids, smiling and holding up books.

Support First Book Through The New York Times Communities Fund!

First Book is honored to be a beneficiary of this year’s holiday giving campaign, helping improve access to quality education for kids in need. Learn how your support can provide educators and students with critical books and resources this season.

young girl writing on a paper in a classroom setting.

Time for Change Youth Challenge – Now Open!

K-12 students can submit their ideas for positive change in their schools and communities for a chance to win $1,000 or more! Applications open through January 30th.

frame from video PSA about childhood grief. Drawing of two children sitting down, looking at a picture book.

Building Grief Supportive School Environments

Discover how our partnership with the New York Life Foundation is making a difference by providing essential resources and support to educators and communities addressing childhood grief and loss.

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Double Your Impact This Holiday Season

Help First Book provide 1 million books to kids in need. Your donation is matched, doubling the impact and supporting diverse books for every child.

group of kids sitting at a long table, reading books

It is important to remember, even at this moment when our country feels so very divided, that our mission at First Book is unifying and urgent – to ensure that all children, regardless of their background or zip code, have access to quality education. We’re growing every day to reach the 27 million children in the US who live in low-income, under-resourced communities — and the heroic educators who are trying to navigate it all.

To our community: First Book is here to help! Our Network of more than 600,000 educators, program professionals and volunteers are the heart and soul of our organization – able to access high-quality books and resources at low- or no-cost, to share their experiences, needs and learnings, to help ensure that all kids can succeed by removing barriers to equitable education.

Please join us – our tireless First Book team is dedicated to a brighter future for our country’s children. We’re committed to helping ALL children living in low-income communities, and with your help, we can do it.

Our Mission

We envision a world where every child has access to a quality education.

Because education transforms lives.

  • We level the educational playing field for children in need.
  • We’re on a mission to ensure that all children, regardless of their background or zip code, can succeed — by removing barriers to equitable education.

Our Impact

First Book reaches 6.5 million kids each year in low-income communities across North America through a powerful network of more than 600,000 individual educators, professionals and volunteers specifically working with children in need. This is the largest online community of its kind.

Over 32 years, First Book has distributed more than 250 million high-quality books and educational resources to support kids, and the educators who serve them.

600,000
Individual Educators in Our Network
250 Million
Books & Resources Distributed
6.5 Million
Children Served Annually

Our Model of Change

First Book is a nonprofit working to remove barriers to an equitable education for children living in low-income communities. We are passionate supporters of individual educators, professionals and volunteers who serve kids in need. We pride ourselves on having business minds and non-profit hearts. First Book is dedicated to breaking down the barriers to educational equity by increasing access to evidence-based best practices, books, and resources in underserved communities. And First Book is a bridge-builder, collaborating with public and private partners, translating best-in-class expertise into educational resources to support learning for children in underserved communities.

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First Book Network

The First Book Network is made up of more than 600,000 individual educators, professionals and volunteers who exclusively serve kids in need.

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First Book Marketplace

The First Book Marketplace provides 24/7 access to high-quality, new books, and educational resources at deeply discounted prices to First Book’s network of individual educators, professionals and volunteers working with kids in low-income communities.

First Book Research & Insights

First Book Research & Insights conducts qualitative and quantitative research, providing essential insights that guide the field and helps us identify what students need to overcome learning barriers.

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First Book Accelerator

The First Book Accelerator turns our cutting-edge research into expert-informed, actionable teaching tools — in weeks rather than decades — so our members don’t have to wait for the latest evidence-based strategies that will help the kids they serve.

Featured Partners

Dedicated partners help us create even more opportunities for educators and kids in need.

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KPMG logo
New York Life Foundation logo
the Penguin Random House logo
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This is one of the best organizations I have ever worked with in my many years in education and library services. The vast knowledge, resources, and opportunities that First Book provides are superb.

First Book Supporter