Giving children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books.

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 in thousands of communities.

Now qualified as a registered charity in Canada, First Book/Le Premier Livre stands ready to reduce barriers to book ownership by offering free and affordable new books to programs reaching the most disadvantaged children in Canada, ensuring every child is able to experience the joy of reading. First Book/Le Premier Livre is committed to providing wonderful stories by authors from Canada and around the world to children in need.

Learn about First Book's activities in the United States.

First Steps

Les Premieres Etapes: First Steps for First Book/Le Premier Livre

Following up on a March 2006 visit to Canada, First Book President, Kyle Zimmer, and members of First Book's senior team traveled to Toronto in October, where they met with leaders from each of the private, government, and social sectors to discuss First Book/Le Premier Livre. While in Ontario, our senior team had the pleasure of meeting with many of the major Canadian children's publishers as well as Canadian affiliates of our US publishing partners.

The Honourable James K. Bartleman, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario; John O'Leary, President of Frontier College; and Tim Pinnington, President of TD Mutual Funds and First Book Board member, hosted receptions for First Book/Le Premier Livre which offered our team the opportunity to meet with the leadership of a number of foundations, library organizations, and education and outreach programs serving children from low-income families across Canada.

These and other conversations with Canadian leaders from a variety of sectors continue to inform our decisions and inspire our work on this exciting project. The entire First Book/Le Premier Livre team would like to extend special thanks to all of those in Canada whose guidance has meant so much to us throughout this process.

We look forward to updating you as these efforts continue to develop.

First Book Teams Up with Scholastic's ClassroomsCare Program in Canada

First Book/Le Premier Livre is proud to partner with Scholastic Book Clubs ClassroomsCare program, a philanthropy-based literacy campaign designed to teach children about the joys and importance of reading and giving. From January 1 through May 31, 2007, Canadian classrooms will read 100 books and in turn, Scholastic Book Clubs, a division of Scholastic, the global children's publishing and media company, will donate up to 100,000 new books to disadvantaged Canadian children through First Book and other charitable partners who ensure that the books are placed into the hands of the hardest to reach children. First Book/Le Premier Livre will receive the donations and will distribute the books to children in under-served communities across Canada.

Disney Live! and First Book/Le Premier Livre Share the Magic of Reading in Toronto!

Disney Live! has partnered with First Book/Le Premier Livre to promote literacy throughout the tour of Disney Live! presents Mickey's Magic Show. On October 20, 2006, children from First Nations School of Toronto received a special visit from the stars of Disney Live! presents Mickey's Magic Show, who hosted a magical story reading during which the show's magicians performed “book-inspired” magic. The Honourable James K. Bartleman, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, attended the event as a guest of honor and was joined by representatives from the Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts and representatives from the Cree First Nation of Quebec.

Disney Live! presents Mickey's Magic Show contributed a portion of proceeds to First Book/Le Premier Livre for the first 1,000 tickets sold in Toronto, helping to provide hundreds of new books to Canadian children who need them most. The Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts matched the contribution made by Disney Live! to help First Book/Le Premier Livre provide even more new books to children in need. Children from First Nations School had the opportunity to attend a performance while it was in town and received new books from First Book/Le Premier Livre.

The Motorola Foundation helps to fund new books to Canadian children in need.

As part of the Motorola Global Day of Service, the Motorola Foundation and First Book hosted an online book drive to raise funds to place new books into the hands of children in need. Employees donating to the Motorola Global Day of Service Employee Book Drive could designate one of ten communities across North America to receive their donation. The initiative generated much-needed funds which will be used to place books in the hands of children from low-income families in Toronto.