First Book - First Book at a Glance

First Book at a Glance

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 60 million free and low cost books in thousands of communities.
First Book now has offices in the U.S. and Canada.
First Book was founded in 1992 and is still led by President and Co-founder, Kyle Zimmer.
First Book has distributed more than 60 million new books to children from low-income families in thousands of communities across the United States.
First Book is national in scope, but local in impact, with more than 275 First Book Advisory Boards forming an extensive network of volunteer community leaders serving as ambassadors dedicated to fundraising.
The Advisory boards provide book grants to local literacy programs, and raise awareness of literacy issues within local communities, college campuses and universities.
First Book is the signature charity of the U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard provides First Book with volunteer support and warehouse space around the nation.

You can also view a list of our recent honors and awards.

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.
FBNBB was created in 1999 and is now supported by donations from more than 50 publishers.
The largest single donation to the FBNBB was 1.9 million books from Random House in 2005.
The largest single distribution of the FBNBB was 2 million books in 2002.

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.
Products are sold in full cartons only, and all prices include free shipping
FBMP is GRAND PRIZE WINNER of the Yale School of Management & The Goldman Sachs Foundation Partnership on Nonprofit Ventures National Business Plan Competition
FBMP was named the SOCIAL ENTERPRISE INNOVATION AWARD winner given by the Social Enterprise Alliance & The Case Foundation to the “most innovative model in the field of social enterprise.
To purchase low-cost, high quality books from FBMP an organization must: --Serve children where at least 50% are from low-income households OR be a Title I or Title I eligible school and --Not discriminate against individuals based on race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, religion or physical or mental ability.

The FBNBB and the FBMP currently reach 20,000 registered recipient groups.

First Book’s business model is designed for maximum efficiency. Non-programmatic costs total less than 3% of revenue meaning that 97% of revenue is devoted to programmatic costs.
As a result, every $1 donation to First Book results in $10 worth of new books directly into the hands of children in need.