There was a little bit of celebrity buzz going around the building last Thursday. First Book’s good friend Eric Close, Verizon Literacy Champion and actor from the hit TV show Without a Trace, stopped by with a team from Verizon for a tour of our offices. They were on their way to an event in […]

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I’ll admit that I’m a bit skeptical when it comes to movies or plays that are based on famous (and sometimes, not so famous) books. Usually, the tweaking of characters, the condensing of time, and the whittling down of language that is so often required to fit the different mediums of film and stage […]

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GREAT news!! A few weeks ago, Borders announced a national benefit promotion to raise funds for First Book. Together we asked customers, friends, partners and supporters — you — to help by shopping at Borders and Waldenbooks stores throughout the country over the last weekend of August. Well, all told, the promotion raised… drum roll, […]

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I recently spoke at the Yale School of Management to students interested in using their MBAs to advance social change. While talking with these young people I realized how lucky I am to be a part of First Book, a social enterprise organization pioneering important work at the intersection of the public and private […]

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Guest blogger Bill Branley is a writer and jazz musician who grew up in New Orleans and now lives in the Seattle area with his wife and two children. He is the author of Sea Changes, a novel that benefits Book Relief.
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve had the opportunity to speak […]

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I used to travel quite a bit in the developing world, most often on unreliable public transportation. I had a policy of never leaving home without a bottle of water, a high-energy snack, and a good book. More than a few times, my book came in handy as I waited on the side of the […]

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It is pouring rain here in Washington, D.C. We’ve hardly had any rain at all since the floods around the 4th of July, which is really too bad. No rain means there’s rarely a break in the heat, and the grass gets brittle and takes the fun out of a mid-afternoon stroll. […]

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Wondering where all the books go? Periodically we will profile one of the many organizations that receive books from First Book. We work with community programs that serve children from low-income families.
First Book Group Name: C.U.D.D.L.E.S. (Comprehensive Unique Developmental and Diverse Learning Enrichment Systems)

Location: Memphis, Tennessee
Children Served Annually: 200, ages 6 week to 12 years
Description: […]

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There’s always a lot of action going on around First Book, and to give a little taste of that to all you lovely readers, I thought I’d talk a bit about what it’s like to be a Social Enterprise Fellow at First Book.
I started here in the middle of June, so I’ve got […]

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