First Book Research & Insights
Understanding the Need
In low-income communities, books and educational resources are scarce. Kids start school behind their more affluent peers and never catch up.
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44% of all U.S. children come from low-income families.
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Poverty is reshaping education: 51% of students across the nation’s public schools are low income; coming to school without even their basic needs met and under extreme stress.
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Public education is underfunded: 23 states spend less on public education than they did a decade ago.
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Economic devastation is deep and broad: The effect of an inequitable educational system is the equivalent of a national recession.
Our Solution
First Book's models are built not as a quick fix, but to address systemic educational inequity with lasting, permanent change—not simply in the life of one child who yearns to learn, but across our entire educational system.
The Impact
First Book transforms the lives of children in need by making brand-new, high-quality books and resources affordable and available to the educators and kids who need them most.
185 million
books and resources distributed to date.
5 million
children reached annually.
450,000
registered members, with 1,000 new educators joining weekly.
1 out of every 3
classrooms and programs serving kids in need reached.