It was another amazing Book Bank distribution for me and three colleagues who headed West last week. From the US Coast Guard station in Alameda, California, First Book distributed 300,000 brand new Simon & Schuster books. Titles ranged from a bilingual “Bob the Builder” book to holiday themes and beyond. While a distribution of this size normally takes at least four, if not five days to complete, we were able to do it in three. What’s our secret? The men and women of the US Coast Guard, who are the absolute best volunteers you can ask for in a warehouse. This was the third time I have personally been to this site, and it’s always a smooth operation. Not only are they extremely kind, they are also a really fun bunch. To Sam, Nate, and the rest of our friends in Alameda- THANK YOU!

Of course, being in the Bay area also means spending time with two great Advisory Boards: First Book-San Francisco and First Book-East Bay. Working with such dedicated advocates for literacy is both energizing and humbling. My Board members are the cornerstone of why I work at First Book and I can’t say enough nice things about them. Have a great weekend everybody!

Members of First Book-San Francisco and the First Book national office enjoy dinner at Eureka restaurant.  From left to right: Carla Hartley of San Francisco BookPALS, Jaime Quevedo of First Book, Kathy Katz of Children’s Book Project-San Francisco, and Elena Bush of First Book.  Thank you to Brian Castagne of Project Read for sharing this picture.