Posts in category National Book Bank

One Million Books in Just Ten Days: The Final Reckoning

Apr26
2012 Leave a Comment Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

One Million Books in Just Ten DaysRecently, 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.

Heather Denny, a Montana teacher, on First Book“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.

First Book volunteers in MilwaukeeThanks 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.

Posted in Book Distributions, First Book Events, First Book Partners, Teachers, Volunteers - Tagged , , , , ,

One Million Books in Just Ten Days: Minneapolis!

Apr19
2012 1 Comment Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

One Million Books in Just Ten DaysFirst 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.

First Book at the Hmong International Academy in MinneapolisWe 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.

Ten Days, One Million Books: First Book on ABC5 News in Minneapolis“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.

Posted in Book Distributions, First Book Events, Teachers, Volunteers - Tagged , , , , ,

One Million Books in Just Ten Days: Seattle!

Apr18
2012 Leave a Comment Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

One Million Books in Just Ten DaysFirst Book staff and volunteers are lining ‘em up and knocking ‘em down this week as we work to distribute over one million brand-new books to schools and programs serving kids in need across the country.

There are 350,000 new books in the Seattle warehouse, donated by our friends at Random House, Disney Publishing Worldwide and Townsend Press. About 100,000 of those books will be picked up by local teachers and nonprofit leaders, while the rest will be shipped out to similar programs across the country.

“I got the chance yesterday to work alongside Weedy, who helps run an after-school program in LaHood, Wash. that serves 350 children, mostly from low-income families. She was so excited to get books for her students that she was coming to the warehouse twice — once to pick up books for her kids and once just to volunteer!” — Kim, First Book staffer

First Book doesn’t have a warehouse of our own, so when publishers donate huge quantities of new books, we rely on other nonprofits and generous companies to loan us warehouse space. This week we’re working with our friends at World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization that provides food, clothing, medicine and other desperately-needed resources to children and families around the world.

One Million Books in Just Ten Days: First Book in SeattleWe’ve worked with World Vision in the past; they’re amazing people who do a tremendous amount of good, and we’re grateful for their support.

World Vision also helped round up volunteers from the community, who are helping us move pallets, sort out shipping labels and load boxes of new books into teachers’ cars and vans. We’ve got a great bunch of volunteers out there; everyone has been friendly and full of energy and lots of kids in need will have new books next week, thanks to their efforts.

Outstanding work, Seattle!

Tune in tomorrow, when we’ll check in with another group of First Book staff and volunteers in Minneapolis.

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.

Posted in Book Distributions, Book Recipients, First Book Partners, Volunteers - Tagged , , , , , , , ,

One Million Books in Just Ten Days

Apr17
2012 3 Comments Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

One Million Books in Just Ten Days

How First Book distributed one million books in ten daysUPDATES!

Want to get involved in our next 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.

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She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain

Feb06
2012 Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

Dear First Book,

A letter from Kiley to her friends at First BookThank 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 Thanks for writing! Your friends at First Bookback, 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.

Posted in Book Distributions, Book Recipients, Books & Reading, Marketplace, Teachers - Tagged , , , , , , ,

We Couldn’t Have Done It Without You

Jan05
2012 Kyle Zimmer 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.

First Book in 2011We’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.

First Book in 2011We 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.

First Book in 2011But 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

Posted in Book Distributions, Book Recipients, Books & Reading, Kyle Zimmer, Marketplace, Teachers, Volunteers - Tagged , , ,

Books, Books, Books, Books, Books! First Book is Working Overtime to Distribute One Million Books by Next Weekend

Dec02
2011 Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

Yesterday we went to Nashville and picked up 50 cases of books for our organization that serves special needs and will be delivering them tomorrow at our basketball signups.

This is going to be such an amazing thing for these special children and I can’t wait to see the smiles on their faces when they get an early Christmas present of these wonderful books.

Rick Ryan
Challenged Athletes Playing Equally (C.A.P.E.)
Murfreesboro, TN
www.capetn.org

I just can’t believe all the books I got this morning!!!  I do believe I got everything I asked for and more. We know that doesn’t often happen in this game of life.   I’ve gotten books before, but never like  this.  I thank you for offering this opportunity and look forward to some great book clubs and organizing a book give away with our kids at Warner.  We’d love to have you back in Nashville anytime!

On behalf of the students and teachers at Warner….thanks so much!
 
Mona Bruey
Library Media Specialist
Warner Enhanced Option School
Nashville, Tenn.

First Book staff and volunteers distributing one million booksOne of the ways First Book gets new books into the hands of children from low-income families is through the National Book Bank. Publishers donate new books to First Book, and we distribute them to schools and programs around the country.

Our publishing partners have been even more generous than usual lately, so our National Book Bank team is working overtime, traveling to donated warehouse spaces from coast to coast.

Book distributions are one of our favorite things – we get to meet the teachers and program leaders, hear about the kids they work with, and load up their cars (and trucks and school-buses and even horse trailers) with boxes of new books.

First Book loading books into a horse trailer in MissouriBut they are exhausting – a week of 12-hour days spent moving more boxes than you can imagine. Our staff and volunteers give it their all, especially our National Book Bank managers, Katie and Anna, who are in Nashville and St. Joseph, Mo. this week, and traveling (without so much as a day off) to St. Louis and Casa Grande, Ariz.

So thank you to all the amazing local volunteers that show up at warehouses to help get these books to where they need to go, and thank you to all the hard-working educators and community leaders who make sure every book gets into the hands of a child who will take it home and read it again and again.

PS – If you’re on Twitter, drop Anna (@AnnaInTheCity) and Katie (@IAmNotNancy) a note and tell them to keep up the good work!

Posted in Book Distributions, Book Recipients, Books & Reading, Volunteers - Tagged , , , , , , ,

Help First Book Get Over One Million Books to Kids in Need. Yes, You! Right now!

Nov18
2011 Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

The end of the year is approaching fast, and that means First Book gets lots of great, high-quality book donations from the many wonderful publishers we work with. Which is terrific; we love books. But when we have this many new books, we need some help getting the word out.

Help First Book Get Over One Million Books to Kids in Need.There are a lot of people working with a lot of kids in our national network of 27,000 local schools and programs. But a million books is a LOT of books.

So we’d love to meet some more local schools and programs. If you know a teacher or program leader who works with kids from low-income families, tell them about First Book! You can send them to firstbook.org, or just forward this blog post.

All they have to do is sign up (it’s free, online and only takes a few minutes) and they can apply for all kinds of great books for their kids. Free! (Well, not completely free. There is a 35 cent shipping and handling cost per book, but we try to move these distributions around the country as much as possible so programs who can’t even afford that minimal cost can avoid it by picking up the books in person. Between now and the end of the year, we’ll be visiting Nashville, St. Joseph, Mo., St. Louis, and Casa Grande, Ariz.)

What’s the catch, you ask? THERE IS NO CATCH. First Book is a nonprofit with the mission of getting new books to kids that need them. This is our thing.

To recap:

  • Books.
  • Lots of them.
  • There is no catch.
  • Sign up today at firstbook.org.

Click here to learn more about First Book and our National Book Bank program.

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