The end of the year is approaching fast, and that means First Book gets lots of great, high-quality book donations from the many wonderful publishers we work with. Which is terrific; we love books. But when we have this many new books, we need some help getting the… Read More

First Book distributes millions of books a year to schools and programs around the country. If you’ve ever wondered where they go, and what kind of impact they have, Ellen Finan, a local First Book volunteer in Trumbull County, Ohio, wrote today to share this story of a little girl… Read More

First Book distributes millions of books a year to schools and programs around the country. If you’ve ever wondered where they go, and what kind of impact they have, Ellen Finan, a local First Book volunteer in Trumbull County, Ohio, wrote today to share this story of a little girl… Read More

From everyone at First Book, a hearty welcome and a sincere ‘thank you’ to all our new followers on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, and an equally heartfelt ‘thank you’ to all our supporters and partners who shared last week’s social media message far and wide. Thanks to all of you,… Read More

First Book is excited to be partnered with JetBlue’s “Soar with Reading” program.  Soar with Reading aims to keep children reading throughout the summer, harnessing a combination of in-flight and online literacy resources, community reading events and proving new books to children in need. For every… Read More

The Page Education Foundation is a local nonprofit based in Minneapolis that helps young people from low-income families get to college, through financial assistance and mentoring. Those young people become Page Education Foundation Scholars, and the program requires them to commit to giving back by mentoring other kids… Read More

If you grew up with books of your own at home, you know what a powerful impact they had on your life. But kids from low-income families typically have no books of their own at home, and few, if any, in their classrooms. You can imagine the impact… Read More

For the seventh year running, the staff of First Book journeyed to Ben’s Chili Bowl, a D.C. landmark, to celebrate Halloween, display their costumes, and eat half smokes. We hope you have a spooky and spectacular Halloween!… Read More

Today's guest blog post comes from Jessica Terrill. Miss Terrill is Miss Mississippi State University and a communication major with an emphasis in broadcasting. I’ve always been a dreamer.  Since a very young age, my parents encouraged me to dream big and to truly believe in those dreams and my ability to attain them. In early high school, I had the opportunity to lend a hand in an afterschool program, and I volunteered to help tutor a group of third grade students each day. I will quickly tell you that I had no idea of what I was getting myself into, and thought this new task that I was taking on would be simple and easy. After working with these kids for only a short time, one fact became very clear to me. Of this small group of third graders, only a hand full were reading well—most hardly could read, if they could at all. I was shocked at my discovery and over time I visited other classrooms—only to find the same results. After experiencing this harsh reality, it truly brought the illiteracy crisis that our nation is facing home to me and made this truth all the more real. After being forced to face this reality, I was determined to put all the effort I could towards changing this, and teaching and sharing with kids and our communities about the importance of reading, the benefits of reading, and the vital part I feel it plays in each child’s future. Once I began this journey, I quickly found out about the organization, First Book, and it became a passion of mine from the very start. I was so Read More

First Book has been working hard to get new books to West Virginia kids this year. We distributed over 300,000 books to children from low-income families, and we joined forces with the American Federation of Teachers to ensure that those kids have access to an ongoing… Read More