First Book
Eliminating Barriers and Inspiring Young Minds.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
First Book believes that education offers children in need the best path out of poverty. But 31 million kids who live in underserved communities are not getting the education they need: • 44 percent of all U.S. children come from low-income families. • Poverty is reshaping education: 51 percent of public school students are in need, often coming to school without even their basic needs met and under extreme stress. • Public education is underfunded: 23 states spend less on public education than they did a decade ago. School and youth programs are challenged for means to keep children engaged and learning, creating an urgent need for resources. • The economic devastation is deep and broad: According to McKinsey & Co, the effect of an inequitable education system is the equivalent of a national recession. Poor educational outcomes lead to rising health care and justice system costs; lost tax dollars, competitiveness, and workers; and unrealized opportunities for children in need.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
The First Book Network
The First Book Network is North America's largest and fastest growing community of individual educators and practitioners working with children in need at schools and programs across the U.S. First Book members work in classrooms, after school, summer or early childhood programs, shelters, faith-based organizations and health clinics, libraries, community programs, military support programs, and other settings serving a majority of children in need.
The Stories for All Project™
First Book launched the Stories for All Project™ as a market-driven solution to increase diverse voices in children’s books. Kids feel that their own stories matter when they see their experiences reflected in books, and they develop curiosity and empathy when they read about experiences different from their own.
With more than 2,000 titles, Stories for All is the largest worldwide collection of diverse content curated for kids in need, with titles that not only reflect diverse cultures and ethnicity, but also different family structures, sexual orientations, individual abilities, religions, and life experiences.
First Book has partnered with publishers and funders to publish new titles and new authors, launch books previously only available in hard-cover in affordable paperback formats, and influence publisher decisions in making new, bilingual titles available at retail.
First Book Research and Insights
First Book Research & Insights drives meaningful change by aggregating and amplifying the needs, market power, and voices of those in our Network. Through First Books extensive quantitative and qualitative research, this community of educators provides insights guiding the design of programs, partnerships, and the resources we offer. Research & Insights informs how to develop products, curriculum and digital resources that will be most relevant and impactful for all serving under-resourced educators and children.
The First Book Marketplace
The First Book Marketplace, a nonprofit eCommerce site, delivers a wide range of professionally curated diverse, culturally relevant books and resources -- all offered at the lowest costs possible, or for free. We use aggregated buying power to influence what is published or created to ensure we are meeting the needs of those serving children in need. Since our founding more than 30 years ago, we have distributed more than 225 million books and resources in total, with 13-16 million books distributed annually.
First Book Accelerator
First Book Accelerator collaborates with public and private partners, translating best-in-class expertise into actionable educational strategies to support learning for kids in need. We collaborate with field experts, publishers, corporations, foundations, fellow nonprofits, leading academics, and individual donors to address the critical needs expressed by educators. These mission-driven alliances fuel our ability to expedite resources to those who need them the most.
Where we work
External reviews
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Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
By removing barriers to educational opportunities for children growing up in low-income families — and supporting the educators who serve them — we can help close the achievement gap and change the trajectory, both for individual children and for our country.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Remove Barriers to Access: Through a sustainable, market-driven model, First Book makes everything from brand new, high-quality, relevant educational resources — including books, sports equipment, winter coats, snacks, and more — deeply affordable to educators and program leaders who serve kids in need. First Book also recruits funding to provide resources to programs that have no budget for books or learning materials.
Aggregate Educators Serving Low-Income Communities: The First Book Network is made up of more than 550,000 educators who exclusively serve kids in need in a variety of settings, including classrooms, after school programs, libraries, shelters, early childhood programs, and more. Through surveys, focus groups and formal studies, we aggregate their voices to identify needs and focus investment. First Book also works in partnership with both national and regional nonprofit organizations serving children in need to supply books and resources to them.
Close the "Last Mile" of Education Innovation: First Book also expands the breadth and depth of the education field through a family of social enterprises. First Book Research & Insights is First Book's proprietary research initiative built on more than 25 years of listening to feedback from educators working in under-represented communities. The First Book Accelerator brings best-in-class research to these classrooms and programs via relevant, usable educator resources, decreasing time-to-market from years to weeks.
Increase Diversity and Promote Inclusion: Children in need are vastly underrepresented in books. First Book's Stories for All Project™ is the largest worldwide collection of diverse content curated for kids in need. To date, the collection includes more than 2,000 titles, and has launched books previously only available in hard-cover to affordable paperback formats, and partnered with publishers to make new, diverse and bilingual titles available at retail.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
As a nonprofit social enterprise, First Book has built an award-winning distribution channel that delivers resources to where they are needed most. The First Book Marketplace (www.fbmarketplace.org), along with its affiliated Canada program (www.fbmpcanada.org), is a nonprofit e-Commerce platform that provides First Book's network of educators with thousands of free and very affordable high-quality, brand new books, educational resources, and basic needs items.
With thousands of items curated in direct response to educator input, the First Book Marketplace reduces the problem of price and distribution, addressing the barriers to education and attendance for kids in need from birth to age 18, including a large collection of relevant diverse and Spanish/bilingual books, school supplies, digital devices, food, clothing, and personal hygiene kits, as well as free teacher resources.
Eligible educators, librarians, providers, and others serving children in need can sign up to receive resources at www.firstbook.org/register. Registration is free and carries no obligation.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since 1992, First Book has distributed more than 225 million books and educational resources to programs and schools serving children from low-income families in more than 30 countries. With an additional 1,000 educators joining each month, First Book is the largest and fastest-growing network of educators in the United States exclusively serving kids in need.
Learn more in our Impact Report and thru our First Book web site. Please consider a donation to support our mission and help bring equal access to quality reading and educational resources to our kids across the US and Canada. Thank you!
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
First Book
Board of directorsas of 02/27/2024
Dr. Martha Molina Bernadett
Molina Foundation
Term: 2017 -
See First Book's website https://firstbook.org/about/first-book-leadership/
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
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