First Book

The inspiration for First Book was born when Kyle Zimmer, a corporate lawyer by day and tutor at an inner-city soup kitchen by night, discovered that the children she tutored had no books to read.

Kyle discovered that the majority of programs reaching low-income populations have few, if any, age-appropriate books for the children they serve. She realized that there were millions of potential readers, future workers, citizens and parents, who were eager to love reading and learning, but were without the tools to do so. Spurred to action, Kyle left her day job and in 1992 founded First Book to provide new books and resources to the children who needed them the most.

That first year, First Book delivered 12,000 books to local communities in the Washington DC area. Now, 17 years later, First Book has delivered more than 65 million books to programs serving children in need across the United States and Canada.

By providing new books to children in preschools and after-school programs, mentoring and tutoring programs, shelters and day care centers and beyond, First Book provides resources to empower teachers and administrators. With access to high-quality books, educational materials and more, these caring leaders can better teach, plan curriculum and impart a love of learning, elevating the quality of the programs and opportunities available to children in need.

Through our innovative models, First Book has transformed a fragmented group of programs serving the most vulnerable children into a vibrant, centralized network numbering more than 20,000 groups serving millions of children. Through the First Book Marketplace, First Book National Book Bank and First Book Advisory Boards, First Book continues to expand our offerings of free and low-cost books to better meet the needs of the programs and children we serve.

First Book envisions a world where all children have an enriched learning environment with new books and educational resources of their own.

First Book distributes free and low-cost books to programs serving children from low-income families through three channels.

First Book Advisory Boards (ABs) are an extensive network of volunteer community leaders serving as ambassadors dedicated to fundraising, providing book grants to local literacy programs, and raising awareness of literacy issues within communities, college campuses and universities.

The First Book National Book Bank (FBNBB) is a centralized distribution system for large-scale donations of children's books from publishers to programs serving children in need. The FBNBB distributes millions of books annually, working with warehousing partners and with support from volunteer networks.

The First Book Marketplace (FBMP) is an online store selling high-quality children's books and educational materials at deeply discounted prices to organizations serving children from low-income families.

First Book's business model is designed for maximum efficiency. Non-programmatic costs total less than 3% of revenue. As a result, every $1 donation to First Book results in $10 worth of new books directly into the hands of children in need.

Every $2.50 donation provides one new book to a child in need.

First Book
1319 F Street NW, Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20004

www.firstbook.org
staff@firstbook.org
866-393-1222