First Book Blog

BIG NEWS from First Book! We've Launched a Major Upgrade to the First Book Marketplace

Posted in: Archive

“The First Book Marketplace is trying to do for publishing what micro-finance did for banking: crack open a vast potential market that is underserved at significant social cost.” — David Bornstein, The New York Times, May 2011 We’re excited to announce a major upgrade to the First Book Marketplace! As... Read more

Happy Turkey Day!

Posted in: Archive

Thanksgiving has to be one of First Book’s favorite holidays; we love the food (who doesn’t like pumpkin pie?) and we love spending time with our friends and family even more. This is also the time of year when we get a chance to reflect on all the things we... Read more

This Holiday Season, Give the Gift of Reading to Kids in Need

Posted in: Archive

If you’re like many of us, you grew up in a home filled with books, and so you understand how important it is for children to get excited about books and become enthusiastic, capable readers. But there are 30 million kids in the United States who won’t have that chance,... Read more

Help First Book Get Over One Million Books to Kids in Need. Yes, You! Right now!

Posted in: Archive

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 word out.... Read more

"I don’t know if I'll be here long enough to read all of these and give them back."

Posted in: Archive, Impact Stories

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

33,000 Books to Kids! So what?

Posted in: Archive

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 and Jet Blue Soar With Reading!

Posted in: Archive

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 reader who registered on... Read more

Minnesota Program Expands Library and Reading Program With 274 New Books from First Book

Posted in: Archive

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 in the... Read more

A Click of the Mouse = A Book to a Kid!

Posted in: Archive

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 THAT has.... Read more

Happy Halloween!

Posted in: Archive

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