We are thrilled to announce that First Book is donating one million new books to elementary school students across the country in celebration of the launch of Target Read With MeSM. When Target was looking for a partner to help make this unprecedented… Read More

Founded in 1979, Irving Burton Associates is a woman-owned professional and technical services firm providing expert program management and advanced technology solutions to government and commercial clients. IBA delivers program management and technical solutions to over 40 program offices in the federal sector… Read More

First Book’s mission of providing books to children from low-income families could not be accomplished without support from organizations that provide direct services. This year, First Book partnered with the National Head Start Association (NHSA) to help prepare children for school by putting… Read More

This months group is an overseas program founded by a member of First Books long standing partner, Pi Beta Phi. This post features an individual that is volunteering abroad, and taking her passion for literacy to all corners of the world. Kentucky Beta member Ann Enderly Walker’s family began a Christian-based nonprofit organization providing short-term medical and humanitarian care throughout the world. The organization, His Healing Hands, works to make a difference in the world to those caught in the vicious cycle of poverty and disease. “Medical backgrounds and a willingness to serve caused my husband and I to get involved,” Ann says. “I am a retired registered nurse, and my husband is a retired firefighter. We both feel very strongly about giving back to those less fortunate.” Ann and her husband fell in love with volunteer service after their first trip to China. “The plight of the people we saw was unbelievable; yet their humility, joy for life and gratitude for the care we gave them convinced us that we were the lucky ones,” Ann says. “Although we touched their lives Read More

This Month’s Recipient Group: The Shyann Kindness Project. “The mission of The Shyann Kindness Project is to pass on kindness by providing fun and needed items to children in stressful situations, while inspiring the performance of random acts of kindness and acceptance of others.” The Shyann Kindness Project has served over 8,000 children since April 2006, and is comprised of three programs: the Kindness Gift-Giving Program, Shyann’s Helping Hands, and Shyann’s Mentors Program. Kindness Gift Giving Events occur twice a month at venues such as hospital emergency rooms and clinics, homeless feeding programs, shelters for women and children, and after-school programs in low-income areas. During Kindness Gift-Giving Events, volunteers distribute Kindness Gift Packages to children that consist of toys, crafts, stuffed animals, and brand new books provided by First Book after an interactive talk about the importance of kindness and acceptance of all people. Read More

What do you get when you combine Hanna Montana: Truth of Dare, Ella Enchanted: True Love’s Kiss, Bess the Book Bus, Miss New Jersey, a stellar Advisory Board, and Philadelphia Public Schools?  First Book's most recent Book Distribution in the land of the Liberty Bell: Philadelphia! Members of First Book-Philadelphia, First Book staff, volunteers, and Miss New Jersey at the Philadelphia Book Distribution. Since I started at First Book, I have been continually intrigued by the Book Bank.  As our clearinghouse for publishers and a   resource for free books, the Book Bank is able to cater to programs that, without this resource, would have limited or no access to educational materials for the children they serve.  And while I know the ins and outs of the Book Bank, until a few weeks ago, I had never experienced a Book Distribution on the ground. Which is why on Wednesday morning I woke up with books to kids on my brain and ready to see over 85,000 books distributed through the First Book National Book Bank. Read More

Bess the Book Bus is nearing the end of her second nationwide outreach that will cover 36 states and deliver 27,000 books into the hands of children who otherwise may not have been able to experience the joy of owning their very own book. Our trip began at the end of April and will end in the middle of September. This leg of the trip has taken us to areas such as Pittsburgh and Camden, NJ, two of the most underserved areas on this trip so far. We partnered with Transitions Lenses and VSP to bring both healthy sight and free books to the Boys and Girls Clubs there. Thanks to the support of Candlewick Press, Townsend Press, and our great friends at First Book, Bess is overflowing Read More

I spend a lot of time here at First Book in Washington D.C. talking with our Recipient Groups about how to receive books, but last week I was able to experience the thrill of providing books to the children that need them most first-hand! Early Sunday morning, I packed up my laptop and left the humid heat of Washington, D.C. for the humid heat of Oklahoma City to distribute 330,000books as part of National Summer Learning Day with the help of our fantastic partners at Disney Publishing Worldwide and Feed the Children! Upon landing in Oklahoma, Erin Carlstrom from Feed the Children met Larry, Mitali, Rachael and myself and whisked us off to local Oklahoma City schools to help prepare for reading events which took place on June 21st, National Summer Learning Day. The next day we had a busy schedule driving throughout Oklahoma City hosting events at three local schools. These events went off without a hitch thanks to help from the Oklahoma City Fire Department, Sheriff’s office, staff from the Lieutenant Governor’s office, Feed the Children, and local Reach out and Read employees.  We spent the day discussing the importance of summer reading, our favorite places to read in the hot summer, our favorite books to read over and over by the pool – and then surprised the kids with books for them to take home and read all summer Read More

This Month’s Recipient Group: Pleasant Glade Elementary is a school wide title one program that targets children for their home visitor program. The program funds individuals who work with families nominated by teachers. These families tend to have children in lower grades and are somehow at risk. For instance, a home visitor will model how to read an age appropriate book with a child in a family with a second language using one of the age appropriate Spanish titles offered by the First Book Marketplace. Pleasant Glade Elementary also conducts a “club house”, which is an after school program held three nights a week, where children are given the opportunity to work with home visitors for extra reading help. Pleasant Glade Elementary has also used extra parent funds to purchase a number of books through the First Book Marketplace. They have purchased a wide variety of books, including Spanish titles. How many children do you serve and what are their age ranges? The home visitor program serves approximately 12 families a year. Books are Read More