How First Book & The White House are Transforming Education Today

At the heart of First Book’s mission to help children in need read, learn and succeed is the distribution of educational content. Breaking down the barriers to accessing books and other information can lift the kids we serve and their communities out of poverty and into bright futures.

When President Obama announced the ConnectED Initiative two years ago, he set an ambitious goal to provide 99 percent of American students with access to next-generation broadband internet in their classrooms and libraries by 2018. And this past April, the President followed up on this commitment with the Open eBook Initiative, a program aimed at creating a world-class digital library and making it available to students aged 4-18 from low-income families.

First Book is proud to partner with the White House to support this bold program that will bring all of America’s classrooms into the digital age. Specifically, First Book will help ensure the eBooks library reaches students in low-income families.

Many of the 180,000 schools and educational programs we serve are already working to transform their districts’ teaching and learning in the digital age. We’re excited to support Open eBooks to reinforce their efforts and take strides to ensure all children have a world of knowledge within reach.

Graphic with a picture of a young girl holding up a Diary of A Wimpy Kid book. There is text on the right side that says, "Spring into Action: Reverse America’s literacy crisis! With 54% of American adults reading below a 6th-grade level, we’re in the midst of a literacy crisis. Let’s get more high-quality books to kids, improving their reading skills and setting them up for lifelong success. Help us reach 100 gifts of any size by March 31 during the Spring into Action Challenge!" There is a purple button beneath the text that says, "I’LL SPRING INTO ACTION". Along the bottom of the graphic is drawings of tulips.