First Book Canada collaborates with Amazon Canada to deliver 100,000 books  

TORONTO, Ontario (November 13, 2018) – Yesterday, First Book Canada held a press conference at Lord Dufferin Junior and Senior Public School to announce Amazon Canada’s donation of 100,000 books to Canadian children in high-needs communities. This generous donation is arriving in time for the holidays, allowing kids across Canada to have access to brand new, high-quality books that they can keep to share with their families and build a home library. The donation was made possible by Amazon Canada customers across the country, as the company donated $1 to First Book Canada for every qualifying children’s book purchased on Amazon.ca over the course of two weeks last month (for up to $100,000).

The press conference also included a Reading Celebration with award-winning Canadian illustrator Matt James about his book with Paul Harbridge, When the Moon Comes, recipient of the 2018 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award.

“100,000 books! 100,000 books gone out into the world to enrich 100,000 lives or more. I believe that books can change lives. We can lose ourselves in books and we can find ourselves too. I’m proud to play a small part in this program that puts books into the hands of children who need them. May they serve as a reminder that their new owners are valued,” said Matt James.

Access to adequate resources is the single greatest contributor to educational inequity, but recent research identified vast ‘book deserts’ concentrated in high-needs communities.1 In a poll of the First Book Canada network, 88 per cent of respondents reported that resources from First Book Canada help to close the achievement gap for the kids they serve.

“It has been an honour to work with First Book Canada on this amazing program of donating 100,000 books to children across Canada,” said Mike Strauch, Amazon Canada country manager. “We are thankful to our Canadian customers who had a big role in this impactful program, as the 100,000 books donated were a direct result of customer purchases of children’s books over the course of two weeks last month.”

“Fueled by the kindness of their Canadian customers, Amazon Canada has provided us with the most generous and lasting gift of all: books that will open doors of possibility and learning for children in need,” said Tom Best, Executive Director of First Book Canada.

About First Book Canada

By making new, high quality books and educational resources available on an ongoing basis, First Book Canada is transforming the lives of children and elevating the quality of education in the country. Since 2009, First Book Canada has distributed over 6 million new books to hundreds of thousands of children in need across Canada. For more information, or to register for books, visit us at firstbookcanada.org and follow our latest news on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

Media Contact:

Calyssa Erb, Communications Coordinator, First Book Canada
cerb@firstbook.org
866.732.3669 ext. 4383

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