First Book - St. Louis

About Us

First Book provides new books to children in need, addressing one of the most important factors affecting literacy – access to books. An innovative leader in social enterprise, First Book has distributed more than 65 million free and low-cost books to disadvantaged children and the programs that serve them.

Since 1998, First Book-St. Louis has distributed over 60,000 new books to a variety of existing literacy programs. Some of these programs include, Grace Hill South Health Center, Teen Pregnancy BJC, Family Center of East St. Louis, African Refugee Service, Childrens Home and Aid Society of Illinois, St. Louis Parents As Teachers, Ready Readers, St. Vincent Home for Children, St. Clair County Family Literacy Program, Ferguson Florissant Even Start, Olive Branch Church, Room At The Inn and Helping Hands Accredited Center.

Our Board has consistently been able to grant out books every year to organizations that serve low-income children in need. Our success depends completely on community support. Our signature fundraiser is a read-a-thon called Penny-A-Page. Schools across the St. Louis area participate in this event every January. If you know of a school who might like to join this worthwhile project, please see the Penny-A-Page link.

Are you an organization in need of books for the children you serve? We grant out books twice a year with grant application deadlines of June 30 and December 31. Our grant application and guidelines are on the Receive Books section of our web site including a cover page which gives the address of where to send the completed grant. If you have any questions regarding this process please contact us. We look forward to your application!

Contact Us

You can contact us by sending an email.