![When it Comes to Books, Teachers' Biggest Concerns [INFOGRAPHIC]](http://blog.firstbook.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/book-concerns-poll-from-First-Book1.jpg "When it Comes to Books, Teachers' Biggest Concerns [INFOGRAPHIC]")
If you’re a teacher or program leader who works with kids in need, let us know what you think. Leave a comment below, or comment on First Book’s Facebook page.
Posts in category Teachers
One Million Books in Just Ten Days: The Final Reckoning
Recently, First Book promised to distribute one million brand-new books to kids in need across the country in just ten days.
Those ten days are up, and we are as good as our word. Better, even … altogether we distributed a little over 1.2 million books to the schools and programs in our national network. Woot!
25,000 of those books went to kids at Title I schools across Montana. Heather Denny, a Title I specialist in Montana who was instrumental in helping First Book distribute the books at a statewide conference of Title I teachers, emailed us this morning to tell us how excited her colleagues were.
“It was amazing!” she wrote. “You should have seen the smiles on our teacher’s faces. We had a retiring teacher who worked in the book room all day because she wanted to see the young teachers coming in and leaving with boxes of books.”
If that doesn’t warm your heart, you are made of sterner stuff than we are.
Thanks to everyone who made this possible, from the hard-working volunteers who spent long, tiring days in warehouses to the generous publishers who provided the books to our nonprofit and corporate partners who provide the support needed, and especially to all the teachers and local program leaders who take these books and use them to turn kids into readers.
Want to get involved in our next amazing book distribution? Click here to sign up for our newsletter and we’ll send you monthly emails sharing stories and letting you know how you can get involved in your community.
One Million Books in Just Ten Days: Minneapolis!
First Book staff and volunteers are working overtime this week to distribute over one million brand-new books to schools and programs serving kids in need across the country.
This week, we have a team in Seattle, distributing 350,000 new books, as well as a team in Minneapolis, distributing half-a-million books to schools and programs around the country.
Over 200,000 of those books — donated by our generous partners at Random House and Disney Publishing Worldwide — are staying in the Twin cities area, going directly to kids at local schools and programs serving kids in need.
We got the chance to meet some of those local teachers and students yesterday at Hmong International Academy. We also got to do one of our favorite things – give brand-new books to every kid at the school, and watch them sit right down and start reading.
One of First Book’s greatest challenges is connecting with the kids who need our help. Although there are 27,000 local schools and programs in First Book’s national network, that’s only a fraction of the people we’re trying to reach. So we rely on local partners, like the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, to help us get more educators signed up.
“Members of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers have jumped at the chance to be involved in this partnership with First Book,” said Lynn Nordgren, president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers. “So far, more than 350 teachers have registered with First Book, and about 140 requested books for their students.”
Many thanks to the hard-working volunteers and generous partners and donors who make these book distributions possible, and especially to the heroic teachers and program leaders who do the most difficult jobs, in Minneapolis and around the country, every day.
Want to learn more? Click here to sign up for our newsletter and we’ll send you photos, video and some more ways you can get involved.
Creating Success Stories for 20 Years
Twenty years ago I was volunteering every week at a soup kitchen in Washington, D.C., where I met the most amazing children and families. As I got to know them, I saw how much they had to struggle, but I also saw how bright they were and how motivated they were to succeed.
I also learned that most of them didn’t have a single book to call their own, and that broke my heart.
So, along with two good friends, I started First Book, to make sure those kids, and kids like them all across the country, would have brand-new books of their own, and to make sure that the teachers and program leaders working with these children every day would have the books and resources they need to do their jobs.
Twenty years later, First Book has distributed over 90 million books to kids in need, we work with a national network of over 25,000 schools and programs and we have local volunteers raising money in over 150 cities. Volunteers, corporate partners and publishers, working hand-in-hand with teachers, librarians and local nonprofit leaders … it humbles and amazes me how much we’ve been able to accomplish together, and how many lives we’ve been able to change for the better.
But we’ve only just scratched the surface. There are 30 million children living in low-income households in the United States, and we’re only reaching a fraction of them. They’re waiting for us, and they can’t wait any longer.
So we’ve got some big plans to celebrate our 20th anniversary. Before this year is over, we’re going to distribute another 10 million new books, recruit local volunteers in 30 additional cities, and double the number of schools and programs that are connected to First Book’s resources, from 25,000 to 50,000.
We’ve come so far together, and have made so much progress, but there’s more to be done. Join us!
- Donate: Every $2.50 pays for a brand-new, high-quality book for a child in need.
- Volunteer: Work with other members of your community to get books to local schools and programs.
- Spread the word: If you know a teacher, librarian or volunteer who works with kids from low-income families, in any kind of program, help get them signed up with First Book. We’ve got books for them!
Book of the Month: Barefoot World Atlas
Feb06
2012
Written by Brian Minter
2012
Written by Brian Minter
Our book of the month on the First Book Marketplace is the Barefoot World Atlas, which looks at all the ways that different cultures and communities across the world have been shaped by their environment.
“Two years ago, our girls participated in thematic unit on water where they learned about the scarcity of clean water around the world. Our case study was the girls of Sierra Leone who are often unable to attend school because of their responsibility to bare water for their family — not to mention the very dangerous paths they walk to get it.”
“Our girls were so blown away they actually raised enough money to build two wells in Sierra Leone. The wells are close to school so girls may get water on their way home and walk together, hopefully decreasing the incidents of violence against them.”
“This beautiful book illustrates many of the issues we discuss at our center. It empowers our girls of every age and from every demographic to empathize with others regardless of geography or background.”
– Marisa Monroe, the director of program operations at Girls Inc., a program that works with girls in Sarasota, Fla., and a member of the First Book network
The First Book Marketplace is a website available exclusively to schools and programs serving kids in need. If you’re a teacher or program leader, sign up with First Book to get quality books like the Barefoot World Atlas for your kids at prices your program can afford.
First Book is able to offer this exclusive, low-cost paperback edition of Nick Crane’s Barefoot World Atlas thanks to the support of our friends at the Longview Foundation for Education in World Affairs and International Understanding.
Our friends at the Longview Foundation also helped us develop this list of other great books on different cultures and communities around the globe. Lists like this are never complete, of course, but these titles are some of our favorites. If you work with kids and know of any titles like this that we might have missed, drop us a line and let us know!
She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain
Feb06
2012
Written by Brian Minter
2012
Written by Brian Minter
Dear First Book,
Thank you for giving us the books. We really like them. You guys have the best books ever because my little sister loves these books.
I like the ‘Nancy Drew Goes to Hollywood’ one. Your books are really fun to read and they’re funny. I also like ‘She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain’.
How many books do you give out every year? Is it over 100 or lesser? It would have to be over 100 because you have to probably send books to every school right?
Have you guys ever had any other books? Have you ever been to Hawaii?
Sincerely,
Kiley
Dear Kiley,
Thanks for your letter! We get lots of thank you letters here at First Book. We read every single one of them, but we don’t often get the chance to write back. But we liked yours extra, because you asked so many excellent questions.
First of all, good job reading to your little sister. Keep it up!
We distribute a lot of books every year. Way more than one hundred, as you guessed. Last year we distributed almost NINE MILLION new books to kids like you, all over the country. And this year we’re going to do even more.
Your teacher obviously cares a lot about you and her other students, so she signed up with First Book. We want to make sure every kid out there has new books of his or her own. So if you ever meet anyone who works with kids from low-income neighborhoods, tell them to sign up with First Book, and we can help them get the books they need.
As for other books, we have LOTS of books. We have over 2,000 books on the First Book Marketplace, a website where we provide books at affordable prices. (Including lots of Nancy Drew books; they’re some of our favorites too.)
We also have another program, called the National Book Bank, where our friends at publishing companies give us lots of other new books so that we can give them away to smart kids like you.
As for Hawaii, we have been! That’s one of the many places we go to give out books; we were there a couple years ago. We would love to come 
back, though, because Hawaii is AWESOME. If we come back, maybe we’ll see you.
Thanks for writing to us, and keep reading!
Sincerely,
Your friends at First Book
PS – We liked your picture of the lady on the horse going up the mountain.
We Couldn’t Have Done It Without You
Jan05
2012
Written by Kyle Zimmer
2012
Written by Kyle Zimmer
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
It’s Almost Friendiversary! Get Your Books Today!
Jan04
2012
Written by Brian Minter
2012
Written by Brian Minter
We see that you have a sad face, because the holidays are over. Luckily, you are as wrong as you could possibly be, because the biggest, best, most excellent, excitingest, fanciest, greatest holiday of them all is on its way.
Friendiversary!
Yes! It’s true! Friendiversary 2012 will happen on Feb. 7! Or, maybe Feb. 8. Really, any day that week is fine, because Friendiversary is all about doing things in the best way possible.
A Friendiversary, of course, is the anniversary of a friendship. Think of one of your oldest and dearest friends. When did you first meet? How did you meet? That story is the story of your Friendiversary.
We celebrated the first annual Friendiversary last year with our friend Mo Willems, author and illustrator of the Elephant & Piggie books. Mo wanted to do something special for some of the kids in New Orleans (where he grew up) and Springfield, Mass. (near where he lives now), so he helped us give brand-new Elephant & Piggie books to every second-grader in those cities. Thanks, Mo!
It went so well that we’re doing it again this year, and we’ve opened the celebration up to EVERYONE in the First Book network. So any teacher or program leader from any of the 27,000 local schools and programs we work with can get their very own Friendiversary Kit – a big box filled with Elephant & Piggie books (40 copies of four different Elephant & Piggie titles), plus all kinds of cool Friendiversary stuff.
Check out the awesome Friendiversary Kit here.
(Be sure to place your order right away, because it will take a few weeks to get them to you, and we want everything to get there in time.)
If you work with kids from low-income families, but you’re not part of the First Book network (or if you know someone who fits that description), it is definitely not to late to get in on this. Just sign up with First Book (it’s free, and takes about five minutes) and you’re eligible to join the party.
And if you want to help bring a Friendiversary Kit to a school or program in your community that works with kids from low-income families, we can make it happen. Just give us a call at 800-READ-NOW or email help@firstbook.org.
Happy Friendiversary!
Reconnecting McDowell: First Book Joins the Effort to Rescue a West Virginia Community
Dec16
2011
Written by Brian Minter
2011
Written by Brian Minter
“Our kids don’t get to have dreams, aspirations, hopes. They can’t even think about college; it’s not in their minds. That’s why these books are so important. Books are the beginning of everything. You learn about other places, you learn about the world.”
– Angela Fedele of the WE CAN Program, a statewide program based in Princeton, W.Va., that provides volunteer mentors for at-risk kids
McDowell County, West Virginia, home to about 22,000 people, is one of the poorest counties in the state, and ranked last in education. Which is why First Book has joined a coalition of businesses, labor unions and nonprofits – more than 40 local, state and national groups altogether – who are working to change that.
For our part, First Book has pledged to provide a brand-new book to every student in McDowell County, books chosen by the local teachers and program leaders who work with the kids. And that’s just the beginning: We distributed 300,000 brand-new books in West Virginia in the last few years, and we’re working with almost 500 local classrooms and programs across the state. Every one of those kids is connected to an ongoing supply of new books through First Book.
“We’re here today because we want to level the educational playing field,” said Chandler Arnold, First Book’s executive vice-president, speaking yesterday at the kickoff ceremony in Charleston. “We want to ensure that the children of McDowell County have access to a steady supply of top-notch books and educational resources.”
Lean more about the project, led by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), at Reconnecting McDowell.
Help us get the word out, West Virginia! If you work for a school or program that serves children from low-income families, or if you’d like to help your child’s teacher or program leader get new books, sign up with First Book. And if you’d like to join one of our local volunteer groups, we’d love to hear from you.
33,000 Books to Kids! So what?
Nov14
2011
Written by Brian Minter
2011
Written by Brian Minter
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, we gained over 33,000 new followers on social media, and – true to their word – our friends at Random House Children’s Books will be donating 33,000 new books to First Book to distribute to kids in need all across the country. Outstanding work! Gold stars all around!
But you might be wondering “So what?”
30 Million Kids in Need
It’s a fair question. Is that a lot of books, in context? Where do they go? Do they have a meaningful impact? What about used books, e-books, library books, reading programs and a thousand other things?
At First Book, we recognize the complexity and intractability of the problem. There are 30 million children living in low-income families in the United States, and those kids don’t have a lot of things that other kids do. Economic security, physical safety, adequate food, shelter and healthcare … the list is long, daunting and hurts to think about.
One thing we know is that a solid, comprehensive education is the best chance many of those kids have at succeeding in life. Another thing we know is that there are hundreds of thousands of unbelievably dedicated teachers, volunteers and community program leaders working their hearts out every day to provide those educations. It’s not an easy job, and there are no guarantees.
But without basic tools, that hard job is a lot harder. Which is where First Book comes in.
Books to Kids Who Need Them
We work with great publishers, like Random House, to get books. Some are donated, and some we buy, but the critical thing is that they are high-quality, and there are a lot of them; last year we distributed 8 million new books. (There are lots of great programs that deal with gently-used and donated books, and we support and applaud them, but for what we’re trying to do, we need to be able to offer educators large quantities of new books. It’s important.)
Those books go to schools and programs all over the country. They’re used in classrooms and in libraries, at after-school programs and tutoring programs, at food banks and homeless shelters, church groups, Head Start programs and public charter schools. First Book works with 27,000 programs, but we know we’re just scratching the surface.
So that’s what. You did a little tiny bit of good when you clicked that button or shared that Twitter message, and lots of little tiny bits of good can add up to something real. It’s a big effort, and the stakes are unimaginably high, so we’re glad you’re here.
If you’d like to learn more about First Book’s mission and the amazing people we work with, visit firstbook.org and sign up for our monthly email newsletter.