First Book Selected as a Beneficiary of The 2025 New York Times Communities Fund Holiday Giving Campaign

Through this year’s campaign, The New York Times invites readers to support the power of education; beloved author Mary Pope Osborne kicks off donations to First Book with a $50,000 matching grant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK (Nov. 25) – For the sixth consecutive year, the national nonprofit First Book has been selected as a beneficiary of the New York Times Communities Fund holiday giving campaign, an annual campaign that invites New York Times’ readers to donate to nonprofits selected by the Communities Fund. This year, the Communities Fund is exclusively supporting local, national, and global nonprofits focused on education.

“The New York Times Communities Fund believes that education is key to creating opportunity and breaking cycles of poverty,” said New York Times’ columnist Nicholas Kristof in a video. “And for that reason, it’s become the Fund’s focus: to make quality learning accessible for everyone. The Fund is proudly supporting these organizations that are dedicated to expanding learning and to lifting up the opportunities not only of participants, but also of the entire communities in which they live.”

Founded in 1992, First Book aggregates the voices, knowledge and needs of more than 600,000 educators serving low-income communities nationwide. Through its research arm, First Book Research & Insights, the nonprofit identifies the needs of teachers, community program leaders, volunteers, and the students they serve, and the organization then responds with affordable, high-quality books, learning experiences, and a wide range of educational resources. Since its founding, First Book has distributed more than 250 million books and resources worth more than $2 billion.

To jumpstart gifts to First Book, Mary Pope Osborne, beloved author of the bestselling Magic Tree House series, is providing $50,000 in matching funds as part of her longstanding support of First Book and children’s literacy.

“We are so grateful for Mary Pope Osborne’s generous gift, and to the New York Times Communities Fund for prioritizing education as this year’s focus,” said First Book’s President and CEO Kyle Zimmer.

“Nationwide, cuts in education funding, continued learning loss from the pandemic, and the lack of affordable books and educational resources are having a devastating impact on student literacy and academic success. Gifts like Mary’s matching grant, along with donations from New York Times’ readers, make a profound difference: fueling the work of dedicated educators, program professionals, and volunteers; and elevating learning and educational opportunities for millions of children nationwide. Together, we’re changing children’s lives, strengthening our communities, and building an educated workforce for our future.”

First Book currently serves 6.5 million children every year, providing access to books and educational resources, and rapidly responding to educator needs with evidence-based resources developed with leading experts on issues ranging from building literacy rich classroom libraries to supporting children experiencing grief, loss, or trauma.

With the support of The New York Times Communities Fund, First Book will reach more children and educators, ensuring increased access to books as well as the development of resources addressing the unique challenges facing educators and students in economically disadvantaged communities.

In addition to First Book, other beneficiaries of this year’s New York Times Communities Fund include CAMFED, Catholic Charities of New York, Children’s Aid, OneGoal, Per Scholas, and UJA-Federation of New York.

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

Learn more about The New York Times Communities Fund here.

About First Book

Education transforms lives. First Book is building a world where every child has access to a quality education. It works to remove barriers to education and level the playing field for kids in need. At the heart of its work are the 600,000+ members of the First Book Network, the largest online community of individual educators, professionals and volunteers dedicated to supporting children living in low-income communities across North America. This Network is the key to creating lasting change. Through its research arm, First Book Research & Insights, it conducts studies that aggregate the voices of the Network to identify challenges, needs, and solutions. To address their needs, it provides free and low-cost books, resources and access to leading experts through the First Book Marketplace, which uses aggregated buying power to support their work. 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 the award-winning eCommerce website at fbmarketplace.org.  

About The New York Times Communities Fund

For 114 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 $354 million for nonprofit organizations.

About Mary Pope Osborne

Mary Pope Osborne is the author of many award-winning children’s books, including retellings of mythology and folklore, picture books, biographies, mysteries, young adult novels, and the New York Times #1 bestselling Magic Tree House Series. An international phenomenon, the series has sold over 194 million books worldwide and been translated into 39 languages.

For more than 30 years, Mary has been a passionate advocate for children’s literacy and education. She has traveled extensively in the U.S. and abroad, visiting schools and speaking on issues related to children’s literacy. In 2012, Mary formed the MTH Classroom Adventures Program, a free-of-charge extensive program for teachers to help bring the joy of reading into their classrooms. Through her longtime partnership with First Book, she has donated over a million books to children in need.