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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On Friday I traveled to Mississippi to join Dr. Henry Johnson, Assistant Secretary of U.S. Department of Education, to announce that First Book will be joining forces with the U.S. Department of Education to distribute more than 200,000 new books donated by Random House Children’s Books to children affected by the hurricanes of 2005.
Living […]

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It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost a year since Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma struck the Gulf Coast. I’m sure that in the next couple of weeks all of the news programs will begin their coverage of the anniversary of the storms and show what progress has (or hasn’t) been made in […]

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We officially distributed 57,462 books to the state of Louisiana to fulfill our promise that 50,000 books would be dedicated to the state as a result of winning the Literacy & Justice for All campaign. Rachael V., Rachel S. and I were on hand in New Orleans to distribute these books — along with […]

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I had never been to New Orleans before I went there for the Literacy and Justice For All distribution there last week; whoa.
The city was absolutely unlike any other place I had ever been; it feels like a different country! We experienced so many things that are unique to that place: one of the […]

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I’m not sure if everyone is aware of the intense weather pattern that has been hovering over the eastern seaboard, but it certainly has been fierce. We’ve had brilliant lightning, booming thunderstorms, monsoon-like rain, flash flooding, mudslides and more. As a result, the weather has disrupted commutes, closed museums, flooded roads and subway […]

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First Book’s Book Relief efforts hit an important milestone last week when we distributed our 2.5 millionth book in the Gulf Coast region. In just ten months, we’re halfway to our goal of distributing five million books to children, adults, schools, libraries and other organizations impacted by last year’s hurricanes.
This article from […]

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Two happenings have brought me to a cool question. First, it’s summer in the city and the schedules are out for big screen public film viewings in DC. Picnics on the green and pleasant evenings revisiting old films - perfect summer fun. Second, First Book’s hurricane response, Book Relief, celebrated the support […]

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Last week I headed to the Gulf Coast to do some advance work for next week’s book parties and press events with the US Department of Education.
Tuesday, June 6 - Houston to New Orleans
I arrived at the airport at 6:00 am for a 7:35 am flight and was so proud of myself. Usually, I have […]

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Everyone tells you that you will see overwhelming tragedy and devastation when you visit New Orleans. Everyone says it looks like a war zone. On the news there have been plenty of pictures of debris and trash, broken houses, abandoned neighborhoods. And, all of those images speak the truth.
The destruction is unbelievable, something most of […]

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