Supporting a Community of Readers: How One First Book Member is Promoting Early Literacy

Gabriella is the Reach Out and Read Program Coordinator at a community health organization in the Pacific Northwest, with 50 locations serving more than 200,000 patients each year. 

Through Reach Out and Read, every child from birth through age five receives a new book at each well-child visit. In just six months, Gabriella helped distribute more than 8,200 books. At that pace, more than 16,000 books will go home with children each year. 

But Gabriella isn't simply looking for books. She's looking for the right books. 

For newborns, that means high-contrast books. For babies learning to explore with their hands and mouths, it means sturdy, durable books. And for her community's remarkably diverse families, it means books in the languages they speak at home, including Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Ukrainian, Burmese, Karen, Pashto, Swahili, Farsi, Nepali, Kinyarwanda, Marshallese and many others. 

For Gabriella, a book in a family's home language is about more than translation. It is recognition. It tells a child and their family that their language and culture belong in the world of books. 

The books also go home through parenting programs, where they become tools for connection, something parents and children can read, talk about and enjoy together. That is the power of the right book in the right hands.   

Gabriella's work illustrates a larger truth about early literacy: children don't become readers on their own. They become readers because trusted adults make space for books. 

A pediatric provider gives a baby a book and shows a parent how to read together. A teacher fills a classroom with stories that reflect the children in front of her. A caregiver reads a favorite book for the tenth time because a child asks for it again. These adults are building more than literacy. They are building language, confidence, connection and a lifelong joy of reading. 

Yet the educators and caregivers serving children in under-resourced communities often face enormous needs and limited budgets. First Book helps remove that barrier. 

Through the First Book Marketplace, members can find high-quality, relevant books at deeply reduced prices, including bilingual, multicultural, developmentally appropriate and durable books like those Gabriella needs. 

And First Book listens. Member feedback helps shape the books and resources we make available. A request for Spanish books matters. A need for books in Arabic matters. A request for a board book sturdy enough for a baby matters. Because the adults closest to children often know best what those children need next. 

Gabriella cannot do this alone. Neither can the thousands of educators, librarians, healthcare providers, early childhood professionals and caregivers creating literacy experiences for children every day. But with the right resources, they can reach millions of children. 

With generous support from individual donors, corporate partners, foundations, and nonprofit partners, First Book helps put high-quality books within reach of educators and caregivers like Gabriella—books children can hold, explore, take home and make their own. 

With First Book resources, an educator can help a newborn encounter a book for the first time or help a parent discover the joy of reading together with their child, or help a child see their language and culture reflected on the page.  

Because the right book, in the right hands, at the right moment can do something remarkable: it can create moments of learning, connection and belonging and spark the moment for a child where becoming a reader begins.  

Educators can join First Book's Network —the largest online community of educators, professionals, and volunteers dedicated to supporting children in need— to access affordable books, educational resources, classroom supplies, and special opportunities designed to help kids learn and thrive.