First Book Blog - Education News & Stories

2020 First Book Title Raves

Posted in: Focus on First Book, Our Bookshelf

The third annual “First Book Title Raves” list is here! Check out the 15 titles below, all of which were published in 2020 and earned accolades from our network of 500,000 educators who serve children in need. 2020 Picks Our 2020 Title Raves list was curated based on five-star educator reviews on the First Book Marketp...

EPIC strives to help vocabulary development in Pueblo, CO with help from First Book

Posted in: Impact Stories, Our Partners

There is no denying, life as we knew it prior to March of this year has been a challenge in so many ways. We have all had to maneuver our way through and attempt to keep our heads up high and make the best of it. Kudos to all of our medical providers, teachers, parents, caregivers, childcare providers and the elderly f...

First Book Launches 2nd Annual #GiveaMillion Fundraiser

Posted in: Impact Stories

Holiday Campaign to Raise $1 Million and Provide 1 Million Books to Kids in Need WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2020 -- First Book , the nonprofit social enterprise focused on equal access to quality education, today announced that it has launched its second annual #GiveAMillion campaign designed to raise $1 million between now...

First Book’s Network of Educators Reaches Half a Million Strong

Posted in: Focus on First Book

Guest post written by Kyle Zimmer, President, CEO & Co-founder of First Book Something amazing happened on October 31, 2020. Hopi Relief, a nonprofit established to assist people in the Hopi villages disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, became the 500,000th member of the First Book Network ! Reaching half a million...

Georgia-based Books for Keeps pivots, innovates, & delivers 68,500 books to students for summer reading

Posted in: Impact Stories, Our Partners

The following is a guest blog post written by our partner Books for Keeps. Books are a torch during times of darkness and human searching. In March of this year, as the skies over our world seemed to turn black, and we all wondered what would happen next, Books for Keeps in Athens, Georgia, looked at the 80,000 books i...

Books that Make Math - MATHICAL!

Posted in: Impact Stories, Our Partners

Books unlock new worlds for readers of all ages – and for some students in the Oakland, California area, those new worlds are MATHICAL! That’s because, thanks to support from the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI), 93 educators in the First Book Network from California’s Alameda County received credits to...

Pizza Hut Chief Executive Officer Artie Starrs Joins First Book Board of Directors

Posted in: Press Room

Sept. 29, 2020 (WASHINGTON) – Artie Starrs, the Chief Executive Officer of Pizza Hut, has joined the board of directors of Washington, D.C.-based First Book, a national nonprofit social enterprise focused on equal access to quality education. First Book and Pizza Hut have worked together for the past four years through...

Resources to Support Educators in These Unprecedented Times

Posted in: Focus on First Book, For Educators, Our Partners

This school year looks different than any other and that can be stressful and worrisome for both educators and students alike. Educators of kids in need are facing their greatest challenge yet as the pandemic worsens existing barriers to education. Earlier this year, we distributed a First Book Research & Insights surv...

First Book Offers ‘Practitioner-Centered’ Back-To-School Resources To Meet The Needs Of Kids And Educators Wherever School Happens

Posted in: Press Room

Resources Developed in Response to Educator Feedback on Barriers to Education WASHINGTON, DC – August 27, 2020 – With the school year upon us, educators serving children in need are facing their greatest challenge yet, as the pandemic exacerbates existing barriers to education and the national conversation on racial in...

First Book Resource: Diversity In STEM Calendar

Posted in: For Educators, Our Partners

Kids learn better when they feel seen and supported in the classroom. At First Book, our primary focus is to ensure all kids feel welcome by giving them new and exciting ways to think about their talents, interests, and future careers. That’s one of the reasons why we have created the 2023-2024 Celebrating Diversity &...