Written by We had a great year at First Book, thanks to the help of supporters like you. Together, we’re transforming the lives of millions of children in need by ensuring they have new books of their own to read.
I want to take a moment to say thank you, and tell you what’s in store for the year ahead.
We’ve spent 20 years building First Book, creating a pipeline for getting books and educational resources to programs serving kids from low-income families. That pipeline is uniquely effective, connecting almost 30,000 local schools and programs across the country with new, high-quality books from every major publisher, all supported by committed donors, volunteers and corporate partners.
First Book has created innovative new models and proven that they work, and -– with your help -– we’ll be swinging for the fences in 2012, scaling rapidly upwards to bring desperately-needed supplies to the millions of children who are still waiting for us.
We accomplished a lot in 2011 — distributing over 9 million new books, adding 7,000 more schools and programs to the First Book network, starting new local volunteer chapters in over a dozen communities, and launching a major upgrade to the First Book Marketplace that will provide local nonprofits and Title I schools with better access to books and other resources.
But there’s much more in store. I’m excited about what we’ve got planned for the year ahead and the impact it will have, from dramatically expanding the size and scope of the network of schools and programs we reach to bringing the proven First Book model to places around the world. I’ll keep you updated as we announce new programs, partnerships and milestones.
Thank you so much for your continued support of First Book and the children who are counting on us. We couldn’t do it without you.
Kyle Zimmer
President, First Book
As an educator for approximately twenty years of children of all ages and academic needs in the great field of Special Education, I absolutely understand the value of providing books and reading material to all our children. I applaud this program as we need to provide quality books to our children. Yes we can transform the lives of millions of children simply by providing books. We need more individuals and groups to start new local volunteer chapters in our communities. Just think of the positive influence and enabling sense of control and strength this will develop within the children.