Category Archive: Focus on First Book

Margaret Atwood, Junot Díaz, and More Join PBS’ Great American Read

Posted in: Focus on First Book, Press Room

First Book COO Chandler Arnold to serve on advisory board for groundbreaking, multi-platform series from Nutopia PASADENA, Calif. (Jan. 16, 2018) – Today at the Television Critics Association Press Tour, PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger announced key authors, celebrities, and notable figures in the entertainment, sports, news, and literary... Read more

First Book Engages Children’s Authors and Illustrators With Expansion of Advocacy Program

Posted in: Focus on First Book, Press Room

First Book’s Authors and Illustrators in Action Program engages authors and illustrators to help fill the all-too-often empty bookshelves of kids in need WASHINGTON (November 20, 2017) – Today, First Book, the nonprofit social enterprise focused on equal access to quality education for kids in need, expanded Authors and Illustrators... Read more

AFT, First Book, and Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation Partner to Provide Targeted Relief to Educators and Kids Affected by Hurricane Harvey

Posted in: Focus on First Book, For Educators, Our Partners, Press Room

Initiative is part of newly-launched ‘Essentials for Kids’ nationwide effort to provide books, supplies, and basic needs items to help alleviate serious public school underfunding WASHINGTON (September 6, 2017)—The American Federation of Teachers, First Book, and the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation today launched a targeted effort to deliver brand-new... Read more

First Book Response to Charlottesville

Posted in: Focus on First Book

The following is a statement by Kyle Zimmer, President, CEO and Co-founder, First Book: Our nation is reeling from the unrest in Charlottesville and the hateful rhetoric that is reverberating across the country. These groups and their acts of bigotry, racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, Islamophobia, transphobia, and homophobia are repulsive and counter... Read more

First Book President and CEO awarded EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2017, Mid-Atlantic

Posted in: Focus on First Book

Kyle Zimmer, First Book’s president, CEO and co-founder, was awarded EY’s Entrepreneur Of The Year 2017 Mid-Atlantic Award for social entrepreneurship last week, in recognition of First Book’s nonprofit, market-driven, disruptive innovation model that is creating equal access to quality education for kids in need. Access to books is the... Read more

First Book turns 25!

Posted in: Focus on First Book

First Book is celebrating 25 years of bringing books and resources to kids in need! From a simple effort that began in 1992 with a handful of books and some spare time, we have grown into a social enterprise that has distributed more than 160 million books in nearly 30... Read more

First Book Dramatically Expands Access to Free Books and Educational Resources for Children in Need, Citing Rapid Growth in Demand

Posted in: Focus on First Book, Press Room

First Book National Book Bank launches new platform granting full-time access to resources as the nonprofit social enterprise reports 40 percent increase in registered network WASHINGTON, March 7, 2017 – With school funding in more than 23 states still below pre-recession levels, and with afterschool and youth programs challenged for... Read more

Powerful Partnerships Provide Books & More For Florida Kids

Posted in: Focus on First Book, Our Partners

Like many First Book stories, this one begins with a successful partnership. A partnership that, for many years, has helped First Book raise the bar for kids in need with new, quality books both at school and at home. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and First Book have the... Read more

NFL Alumni Charlie Brown Helps First Book, Operation Warm Make Impact in Chicago

Posted in: Focus on First Book, Impact Stories, Our Partners

In October, First Book teamed up with Operation Warm and the Chicago Housing Authority to bring new books and new coats to kids living in Chicago’s public housing. The event promised to bring together organizations like First Book and individuals who aim to improve the lives of children and give... Read more

First Book’s Community of Educators Tops 275,000, Provides Growing Insights, Market Power to Further Educational Equity

Posted in: Focus on First Book, Press Room

Network Now Reaches 20 Percent of Classrooms, Programs Serving Children in Need WASHINGTON, June 14, 2016 – A second grade teacher in Atlanta, the executive director of a literacy program in Nashville, and a school librarian in Lyman, Wyo. These are just a few of the growing number of educators... Read more