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Posts in category Video

Matt Damon (and his Mom) Sticks Up for Teachers

Aug03
2011
Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

A teacher wants to teach. I mean, why else would you take a @#$%^& salary and really long hours and do that job unless you really love to do it? — Matt Damon

Matt Damon (and his Mom) Sticks Up for TeachersLots of people have been sending us links to the video of actor Matt Damon defending teachers. Damon was at the Save Our Schools rally in Washington D.C. this weekend with his mother, a teacher, and was interviewed by a video crew from Reason, a libertarian magazine and website.

In the clip, Damon gets quite testy with the spokeswoman and cameraman. (Warning: In this case “testy” also includes some adult language, so please don’t watch this clip if that offends you, or if you are with young children.)

When you watch the entire video, it’s pretty clear that the woman from Reason isn’t interested in telling the stories of teachers and why they came to Washington D.C. for the rally. Instead, she seems interested in presenting teachers in an unflattering light, and making simplistic statements about complex issues like tenure and education reform.

That’s why we’re pleased to see so many people forwarding this video, and talking about it on Twitter and Facebook – overwhelmingly in support of Damon’s comments.

It’s not that he said something brilliant or insightful. It’s that he’s defending school teachers, and we’re glad to see that’s something that resonates with so many people.

What do you think? Let us know, on this blog post or on our Facebook page.

Posted in Education, Teachers - Tagged education reform, libertarians, Matt Damon, Nick Gillespie, Reason, reason.tv, Save Our Schools, teachers, Washington D.C.

When I graduate, I will …

Jul19
2011
Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

Students from First Book programs around the country recently sent us video essays finishing the important phrase “When I graduate, I will …”

We loved all the submissions, but our favorite was this one, from Harvey Milk High School in New York City.

The Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI), home of the Harvey Milk High School, in New York City, is a safe and supportive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth and their families.

Students at Harvey Milk High School in NYCFirst Book works with HMI to provide its youth members with high-quality books, keeping the quality of their education exceptional. HMI provides a number of services that use the books, including college advising, SAT prep classes and a scholarship program.

“The books we receive from First Book are used to supplement our college prep programs,” said Sam Stiegler, Assistant Director of After-School Services for Academic Enrichment at HMI. “Given that SAT prep materials are quite costly, it’s great that we’re able to provide our young people with these materials, so they can be better prepared for college.”

Thanks to our friends at Barclays, First Book is able to offer a selection of quality college prep books on our Marketplace site, for the Hetrick-Martin Institute and thousands of schools and programs like it around the country.

Posted in Book Recipients, Books & Reading, Education - Tagged Barclays, Barclays Capital, college prep, First Book, Harvey Milk High School, LGBTQ, New York City, Sam Stiegler

Goodreads Has Millions of Readers and First Book Has Millions of Books … Hmmm …

Jul06
2011
Brian Minter Written by Brian Minter

Goodreads Book Club to Benefit First BookWe’re excited to announce that First Book has joined forces with Goodreads, one of the largest online communities of readers, to bring more books to more children this summer.

This summer the Goodreads community will be reading ‘A Visit from the Goon Squad’, by Jennifer Egan, to kick off their new Goodreads Book Club. (It’s an incredible book; it was recently awarded both the Pulitzer Prize for Literature and the National Book Critics Circle Award).

For every 10,000 members of the Goodreads community who add this title to their shelves on the site, Goodreads will donate 1,000 books to kids in need through First Book. That may sound like a lot of people, but it turns out there are a whole bunch of people on Goodreads. 25,000 people have already added this title, so we’re up to 2,000 donated books right out of the gate. Woot!

But we’d love to get that number much, much higher, so if you’re on Goodreads, please read (and add) ‘A Visit from the Goon Squad’, and see what all the richly-deserved fuss is about. And if you’re not on Goodreads, go sign up! It’s free and it’s a huge, interesting community of people who love books. Plus there are quite a few First Book staffers on there already, and we’d love to talk about our favorite books with you.

Posted in Authors & Illustrators, Books & Reading, First Book Partners - Tagged A Visit from the Goon Squad, First Book, Goodreads, Goodreads Book Club, Jennifer Egan

First Book Friday: Summer Learning Day

Jun24
2011
Rochee Jeffrey Written by Rochee Jeffrey

In celebration of National Summer Learning Day, First Book was lucky enough to bring 150,000 brand-new books to the National Mall to stuff into backpacks going to children in need all over the country. Seeing the  the hundreds of volunteers that came out to support our efforts was a moving and inspiring sight. Thanks to the hard work of all those involved, we were able to provide  50,000 children with 3 brand-new books of their own for the summer.

Our goal is to get 2 MILLION BOOKS to underprivileged kids throughout the country this summer. If you know of any programs or schools that serve underprivileged children, have them register with us to get books to their students (http://www.firstbook.org/receive-books).

Please check out some of the photos and video that captures the fun and excitement of our distribution:

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Posted in Around the First Book Office, Book Distributions, Books & Reading, First Book Events, First Book Friday, Literacy, Philanthropy, Volunteers

Chris Draft and Summer Reading

Jun23
2011
Rochee Jeffrey Written by Rochee Jeffrey

Veteran NFL Linebacker Chris Draft has been one of First Book’s biggest supporters. His energy, enthusiasm and passion are infectious, and we’re grateful that his organization, The Chris Draft Family Foundation, has partnered with First Book to promote childhood literacy and get more books to kids.

Chris made this video stressing the importance of providing books to kids to combat summer learning loss.

Posted in Books & Reading, First Book Partners, Guest Blog Posts, Literacy, Philanthropy - Tagged Chris Draft, Literacy, Summer Learning, Summer of 2 Million Books, summer reading

It’s Our 19th Birthday!

May19
2011
Rochee Jeffrey Written by Rochee Jeffrey

It’s our 19th birthday today and we couldn’t be more excited!  Thanks to the support of our donors, partners, and volunteers, we have given over 80 million books to children in need. We are grateful to all of our supporters and the educators who help us fight illiteracy one book at a time.

Not only has this been a great birthday week for us,  we are also excited that both the New York Times and the New Yorker highlighted our work in recent articles. Please check out these articles to learn more about what we are doing to end illiteracy.

Although there is much to celebrate, there is still much more to be done. Find out more about how you can help First Book fight illiteracy by visiting www.firstbook.org.

Posted in Books & Reading, Literacy - Tagged First Book's 19th Anniversary, The New York Times, The New Yorker

First Book featured on Comcast Local Edition

Feb10
2010
Written by Katie B.

Joan Sahlgren, Vice President of Communications, recently sat down with Comcast Local Edition’s Donna Richardson to talk about First Book, our mission and our innovative model that brings millions of new books to children in need across the country. The interview appears on-air on Comcast cable in the Washington, DC area, but you can also view the video using the link below.

Posted in General, Literacy - Tagged Comcast Local Edition, Donna Richardson, First Book, Joan Sahlgren

First Book Founder Kyle Zimmer Shares Stage with World Leaders

Feb01
2010
Written by Joan S.

Our own social entrepreneur and founder, Kyle Zimmer, joined world leaders in Davos for the World Economic Forum last week. She presented an IdeasLab primer on the First Book Marketplace, in a session moderated by J. Gregory Dees, Professor, Practice of Social Entrepreneurship, Fuqua School of Business, Duke. Watch the presentation below and read more about Kyle’s inspiration for First Book after the jump.

READ MORE »

Posted in Marketplace, Nonprofit Technology, Social Entrepreneurship - Tagged Davos, Duke University, FBMP, First Book, First Book Marketplace, Fuqua School of Business, IdeasLab, J. Gregory Dees, Kyle Zimmer, Practice of Social Entrepreneurship, Susan Neuman Ph.D., University of Michigan, World Economic Forum

Books Are Great Gifts

Dec22
2009
Written by Katie B.

Just in case you needed any more reasons to be convinced why books are great gifts, our friends at the Association of American Publishers have asked some of the most popular and prolific authors to share their reasons why books make great gifts. Enjoy the video below and check out the videos featuring even more authors on YouTube.

Posted in Authors & Illustrators, Books & Reading - Tagged AAP, Al Roker, Association of American Publishers, Books Are Great Gifts, Books Make Great Gifts, Danielle Steel, Emma Walton Hamilton, Howie Mandel, Julie Andrews, Meg Cabot, Nick Hornby, Peter Yarrow

Today’s Forecast: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!

Sep18
2009
Written by Teresa P.

First Book is proud to announce that select meteorologists across the country from Boston to Los Angeles participated in The Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Challenge issued by Today meteorologist Al Roker.

The challenge, in celebration of today’s release of the animated movie CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS, generated more than 20,000 assorted new books to First Book organizations serving children in need. NBC-affiliate meteorologists had the opportunity to deliver new books and lead a special story time with the children.

First Book would like to thank Sony Pictures Animation, Columbia Pictures, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing and television stations across the country for their generosity and commitment to spreading the joy of reading.

And be sure to check out this video of highlighting books provided to kids in Phoenix as part of the Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs Challenge (video opens in Windows Media Player).

Posted in Books & Reading - Tagged Al Roker, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Columbia Pictures, movie, NBC, Phoenix, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Sony Pictures Animation, Today show
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