
OMG Books Award Spotlight: EPIC Book Giveaways in Colorado
Posted In:First Book Community Highlight, Impact Stories
June 18, 2019 As part of First Book’s OMG Books Awards, we are happy to showcase how our books are being used in Pueblo, Colorado! Executives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC) Pueblo is a coalition of business leaders and organizations committed to providing families with… Read More

4 Inspirational Librarians to Know This National Library Workers Day
Posted In:Impact Stories
April 9, 2019 It’s National Library Workers Day, and we’re honoring our library friends! Thank you, library workers, for the important roles you play in our communities. We celebrate you today and every day. Read about four extraordinary library workers who inspire us. Imagine A School Without A Library… Read More

Taking Resources AWAY From High-Needs Schools?
Posted In:Focus on First Book, Impact Stories
March 19, 2019 This piece was originally published by Kyle Zimmer on Medium on March 11, 2019. For 26 years, First Book, the nonprofit social enterprise I lead, has been dedicated to equal education for children in need. One… Read More

‘Love is an Action Word.’ Show Love. Give Books.
Posted In:Impact Stories
December 11, 2018 “We can tell the kids we love them. We can tell the community that we care. But they look at what we do. I say love is an action word. It’s a verb, and you have to show it.” – Denise Taylor For Denise Taylor, saying you care is not… Read More

We are pleased to announce the winner of the 2018 Estela & Raúl Mora Award!
Posted In:Impact Stories
October 4, 2018 We are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2018 Estela & Raúl Mora Award is … Johnson City Library in Johnson City, Texas! The Johnson City Library in Texas aimed to connect children with books, stories, language, and cultures. The library’s dual celebrations—one in… Read More

School is Back in Session: Here’s Our Assignment
Posted In:Focus on First Book, Impact Stories
September 13, 2018 As kids and educators start a new year, we have an assignment: We must step up and be part of a child’s success. Kyle Zimmer, CEO & co-founder of First Book The following post first appeared on Medium, September 12, 2018. Authored by… Read More

Through Access to Bilingual Books, D.C. Students Develop a Love of Reading
Posted In:Impact Stories
August 30, 2018 Turning the pages of a book from right to left — or left to right, depending on which language you’re reading — is not an innate skill. It’s something we have to learn. But most of us don’t remember that lesson in school, because when you grow up with… Read More

Social Issues & Kids in Need: “They are Tired, Distracted, & Worried”
Posted In:Impact Stories
August 29, 2018 Many of the children our community of educators serve will return back to school this year without the supplies they need to learn; instead with worries and distractions caused by today’s social issues. The following post first appeared on the First Book blog on February 7, 2018. It has been… Read More

Not Just Any Book: Kids Excel With Diverse Literature
Posted In:Impact Stories
August 16, 2018 With engaging books featuring diverse characters, Kreitzer’s students’ achievement scores are now higher than the classrooms using school-provided resources. Kate Kreitzer, a 5th grade teacher in St Paul, MN, believes that finding culturally relevant, rigorous, and engaging academic material is key to her students’ academic achievement. Teaching reading can be tough… Read More

Despite Poverty and the Opioid Epidemic, These West Virginia Students Persevere
Posted In:Impact Stories
August 9, 2018 “It’s a group effort. Through [First Book’s] program, [we’ve] been able to help children in our county. It’s taken a village to help our children have a book in their hands.” – Rhonda Kersey Lincoln County is the number one county in West Virginia in which babies are born addicted… Read More