One Million Books in Just Ten Days: Minneapolis!

First Book staff and volunteers are working overtime this week to distribute over one million brand-new books to schools and programs serving kids in need across the country.

This week, we have a team in Seattle, distributing 350,000 new books, as well as a team in Minneapolis, distributing half-a-million books to schools and programs around the country.

Over 200,000 of those books — donated by our generous partners at Random House and Disney Publishing Worldwide — are staying in the Twin cities area, going directly to kids at local schools and programs serving kids in need.

We got the chance to meet some of those local teachers and students yesterday at Hmong International Academy. We also got to do one of our favorite things – give brand-new books to every kid at the school, and watch them sit right down and start reading.

One of First Book’s greatest challenges is connecting with the kids who need our help. Although there are 27,000 local schools and programs in First Book’s national network, that’s only a fraction of the people we’re trying to reach. So we rely on local partners, like the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, to help us get more educators signed up.

“Members of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers have jumped at the chance to be involved in this partnership with First Book,” said Lynn Nordgren, president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers. “So far, more than 350 teachers have registered with First Book, and about 140 requested books for their students.”

Many thanks to the hard-working volunteers and generous partners and donors who make these book distributions possible, and especially to the heroic teachers and program leaders who do the most difficult jobs, in Minneapolis and around the country, every day.

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