Category Archive: Focus on First Book

First Book CEO Kyle Zimmer Receives Ms. Foundation Award for Igniting Culture Change, Breaking Down Barriers Across Gender and Racial Lines

Posted in: Focus on First Book, Press Room

WASHINGTON, April 27, 2016 – Today the Ms. Foundation for Women will honor Kyle Zimmer, president and CEO of First Book, with the 2016 Peggy Charren/Free to Be Award, provided to individuals in media whose work contributes to breaking through gender and racial lines. The award will be presented by... Read more

Tablets Help Struggling Readers Gain Confidence

Posted in: Focus on First Book, For Educators, Impact Stories

Earlier this school year Sharlene Scott, an Alternative Language Arts teacher in Gardena, California, brought two brand-new tablets into class for her students to explore. She was able to purchase them on the First Book Marketplace thanks to a partnership with Blackboard, Inc. Sharlene loaded the tablets with several apps... Read more

First Book Honored with Literacy Award by Library of Congress

Posted in: Focus on First Book

This week, First Book was honored with the David M. Rubenstein Prize for 2015, one of three literacy awards presented by the Library of Congress annually. The Rubenstein Prize is awarded to an organization that has made “outstanding and measurable contributions in increasing literacy levels and has demonstrated exceptional and... Read more

How First Book & The White House are Transforming Education Today

Posted in: Focus on First Book, Impact Stories

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... Read more

First Book Joins White House to Bring Thousands of e-Books to Kids in Need

Posted in: Focus on First Book, Our Partners

We know that access to books – in all forms – is critical for children to develop into readers. Now, through a new White House-led initiative, First Book is helping connect children in need across the country with access to thousands of e-books. The initiative, announced today by President Obama,... Read more

Feeling at Home this Holiday

Posted in: Focus on First Book, Impact Stories

Today’s guest blogger is Linette Claudio, Bilingual Coordinator at McAuliffe Elementary School in Chicago, IL. Remember a book character from your childhood that helped you through a time of growth and change? One that inspired you, helped you feel at home in our own skin and made you realize you... Read more

Books for Kids in Ebola-Affected Liberia

Posted in: Focus on First Book, Impact Stories

Since the outbreak of Ebola in Liberia, schools across the region have closed — leaving children without access to traditional education opportunities and the moral support teachers provide during times of crisis. So when we received a call from our friends at the International Book Bank and the We Care... Read more

Welcoming We Give Books to the First Book Family

Posted in: Focus on First Book

Our New Partner: We Give Books We can’t keep it a secret any longer! As of today, We Give Books has a new home at First Book. The online platform, which features nearly 300 digitally-optimized children’s books, enables anyone with access to the Internet to put books in the hands of... Read more

A Path Appears

Posted in: Focus on First Book, Impact Stories

Today’s blog post is an excerpt from A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity, the latest book from New York Times’ columnist and best-selling authors Nick Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. In A Path Appears, which was released yesterday by Random House, Nick and Sheryl highlight “some of today’s most successful... Read more

Reclaiming the Promise of Public Education

Posted in: Focus on First Book

Today’s guest blog post is by Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, on the importance of ensuring all educators and students have the books they need for back to school.  As an educator, there’s nothing quite like walking into the classroom on that first day of school…... Read more