First Book Honored in New York Times Communities Fund Annual Holiday Giving Campaign

Receiving this recognition for the fifth year, this campaign shares First Book and its efforts to remove barriers to education with The New York Times’ readers

NEW YORK – First Book has been selected as a beneficiary of The New York Times Communities Fund holiday giving campaign to help support its critical work of improving access to quality education and leveling the playing field for kids in need. First Book is aggregating the voices of more than 600,000 educators nationwide serving low-income communities, identifying the needs of practitioners and their students, and meeting the demand for essential educational resources.

For 113 years, The New York Times has coordinated a holiday giving campaign to encourage readers to support people who are under-resourced and over-burdened. To date, the fund has raised over $337 million for nonprofit organizations. First Book has been supported by the generosity of The Fund since 2020.

“The educators, program professionals, and volunteers in our network and the families they serve are eager for high-quality books that can transform their children’s education, but access to affordable resources is threatening student literacy and academic success.” The New York Times Communities Fund’s support is vital in bolstering classroom and home libraries with books inspiring and empowering our nation’s students, especially during the holiday season when many children will be receiving and cherishing their first book or only gift of the holidays.”

First Book is building a world where every child experiences the benefits of a quality education and the educators leading their classrooms are supported with the books and resources needed to help students thrive. With the support of the New York Times Communities Fund, First Book is set to deepen programmatic support of Title I educators ensuring increased access to free and low-cost books as well as the development of resources addressing the unique challenges facing today’s educators and students.

First Book joins Catholic Charities of Archdiocese of New York, Children’s Aid, Feeding America, Hispanic Federation, UJA-Federation of New Yor, Per Scholas, OneGoal and CAMFED in this recognition. 

To learn more about First Book’s partnership with The Fund and to donate, please visit firstbook.org.  

To learn more about The New York Times Communities Fund, visit us here.

Media Contact + Information

Visit our press room for additional information, including our media kit and contact information.

About First Book

Education transforms lives. First Book is building a world where every child has access to a quality education. We work to remove barriers to education and level the playing field for kids in need. At the heart of our work are the 600,000 members of the First Book Network, the largest online community of educators and professionals dedicated to children in need across North America. This Network is the key to creating systemic change. Through our research arm, First Book Research & Insights, we conduct studies that aggregate their voices to identify barriers to equitable education and inform strategic solutions. To address their needs, we provide free and low-cost books, resources, and access to leading experts through the First Book Marketplace, which uses aggregated buying power to support this underserved community. Founded in Washington D.C. in 1992 as a nonprofit social enterprise, First Book is dedicated to eliminating barriers to learning and inspiring young minds. Learn more at FirstBook.org and visit our award-winning eCommerce website at FBMarketplace.org.