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At the heart of First Book’s mission to help children in need read, learn and succeed is the distribution of educational content. Breaking down the barriers to accessing books and other information can lift the kids we serve and their communities out of poverty and into bright futures.

When President Obama announced the ConnectED Initiative two years ago, he set an ambitious goal to provide 99 percent of American students with access to next-generation broadband internet in their classrooms and libraries by 2018. And this past April, the President followed up on this commitment with the Open eBook Initiative, a program aimed at creating a world-class digital library and making it available to students aged 4-18 from low-income families.

First Book is proud to partner with the White House to support this bold program that will bring all of America’s classrooms into the digital age. Specifically, First Book will help ensure the eBooks library reaches students in low-income families.

Many of the 180,000 schools and educational programs we serve are already working to transform their districts’ teaching and learning in the digital age. We’re excited to support Open eBooks to reinforce their efforts and take strides to ensure all children have a world of knowledge within reach.

The post How First Book & The White House are Transforming Education Today appeared first on First Book Blog.

Bess the Book Bus is nearing the end of her second nationwide outreach that will cover 36 states and deliver 27,000 books into the hands of children who otherwise may not have been able to experience the joy of owning their very own book.

Our trip began at the end of April and will end in the middle of September. This leg of the trip has taken us to areas such as Pittsburgh and Camden, NJ, two of the most underserved areas on this trip so far. We partnered with Transitions Lenses and VSP to bring both healthy sight and free books to the Boys and Girls Clubs there. Thanks to the support of Candlewick Press, Townsend Press, and our great friends at First Book, Bess is overflowing with brand new books, all of which were free.

Throughout this trip, it has been thrilling to see the dedication of the parents, guardians, and teachers as we cross the USA.  One parent walked her children two miles after seeing us on the morning news. She couldn’t believe that someone-anyone was in her neighborhood offering free eye exams, glasses with Transitions lenses, and free books. Both of her children ended up needing and receiving glasses. They also left with armloads of brand new books and ear-to-ear smiles. In fact several parents and grandparents rushed their kids to our event after hearing that we were in the neighborhood, and almost all of them needed and received glasses. Thanks to our partners at Transitions Lenses and VSP and to the doctors volunteering their time, our kids will also now have the healthy sight they deserve as each child is getting eye exams and free glasses when needed.  The look on the parents’ faces was one of tangible relief.  Even better, the kids came out of the mobile vision clinic full of pride, flaunting their new glasses.

Today we are in Maine, headed to Houlton where we will partner with Aid for Kids to put on a literacy fair. Thanks to First Book and the DOE, Bess will have 4,000 brand new books on board to give away in Maine alone. The kids are going to be so excited when they find out they will each receive up to five new books!

As I pack my bags and get ready to hit the road this morning I am filled with gratitude. We are happy to report that reading is alive and well in this country as is the excitement kids have for picking the just right brand new book they have been waiting for or finding that cherished favorite. I can hardly believe that this is my life; that so many great people surround me and that I have the opportunity to live my dream of spreading the joy of reading. I am also hopeful. I hope that one day all of our kids will have equal access to these very basic tools, things that they should already have and will need to succeed in school and in life.

As First Book goes into the second year of our two-year U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Education grant, we packed up and hit the road to continue to spread the magic of books throughout Maine.

This trip we decided to spread our wings throughout the state, last week we held a “Starting an Advisory Board” training in Falmouth. Thanks to Pi Beta Phi member Meredith Baker, we met some new potential advisory board members and reconnected with a few familiar faces. From there, off we went to Bangor for a Meet and Greet hosted by the United Way of Eastern Maine. Thanks to Suzanne Farley and University of Maine intern, Ellen for their gracious hospitality and enthusiasm. On our final stop, we held a morning Meet and Greet in Augusta at the Buker Community Center. Thanks to Karen and Kelly, we had a wonderful turnout and left with some great sweatshirts, too!

We encountered many new friends on our trip, we’ve already seen an increase in registered groups in the state of Maine! We will work hard to continue the momentum so we can provide more books to children in Maine.  I have a new found love for “Northeastern hospitality!” I have two suggestions for your next visit to Maine: 1. Go in the fall, the foliage is awesome to experience and 2. Indulge in eating a Maine lobster roll!

Thanks to the support of U.S. Senator Susan Collins (Maine) and U.S. Senator Robert Byrd (West Virginia), First Book received grants from the U.S. Department of Education, Fund for the Improvement of Education to provide new books to children in need throughout the states of Maine and West Virginia.

As a generous part of the grants, First Book is pleased to offer the following opportunities to all eligible Recipient Groups in Maine and West Virginia:

• Through September 30, 2009, all groups in Maine and West Virginia that complete a purchase from the First Book Marketplace will receive a matching Marketplace store credit to be used towards a subsequent purchase. Up to $500 in a matching store credit will be issued at the end of the promotion period and must be spent by November 20, 2009.
• While grant funds are available, all Recipient Groups in Maine and West Virginia that opt to have books shipped to them from a First Book National Book Bank distribution will not be charged the normal $0.35 per book shipping fee as the shipping cost will be paid for by the Department of Education Grant.

For more information about the grants and for updates on incentive opportunities, please see www.firstbook.org/maine and www.firstbook.org/doewestvirginia.

The mail doesn’t stop just because it’s cold out, and neither do the book distributions! In early December we held our last major National Book Bank distribution of 2008 in Jessup, Maryland, during what proved to be one of the coldest weeks of the year (at least as far as D.C. natives are concerned). And despite heating problems and weather-induced schedule changes, we succeeded in distributing roughly 350,000 books to children in need across the country, just in time for the holidays and the New Year!

The books were donated by Random House, and generously sponsored by the eBay Foundation. The distribution was supported by the Department of Education, who recruited volunteers to take time off of their busy schedules to tough it out in the name of children’s literacy. Thank you to everyone involved!

If this job teaches you anything, it’s to be thankful for a warm fire with a good book… but it also instills a healthy appreciation for all the mail carriers, couriers, drivers, and UPS workers who move those books from A to B!

Here’s to more book distributions in 2009!