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Greater New Orleans

Celebrating 5 years of books to kids...

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, each year First Book distributes millions of free and low-cost books to disadvantaged children and the programs that serve them.

First Book-Greater New Orleans, distributing new books in New Orleans since 2001, is working to end the literacy crisis in New Orleans through increasing children’s access to books. First Book’s network of local volunteer groups in over 270 communities nationwide harnesses the power of a massive grassroots network. We raise funds locally and select programs in Orleans and surrounding parishes as First Book grantees. Grantees use the funds provided by First Book-Greater New Orleans to select books from the First Book Marketplace at significant discounts.

New books chosen by program leaders working directly with children are incorporated into program lessons, and then given to the children to take home and keep. First Book–Greater New Orleans distributes books to  daycare centers, preschools, after-school programs, teachers’ classrooms, tutoring programs, etc. to reach disadvantaged children in Orleans and surrounding parishes and provide them with free books and educational materials.

Locally, we have raised over $100,000 through individuals, corporations, and grants to provide over 50,000 brand new books to build the home libraries of over 7,500 children from low-income families in the Greater New Orleans region.

Most recent data describes a shocking gap in access to reading materials: “While the ratio of books to children in middle-income neighborhoods is approximately 13 books per child, the ratio in low-income neighborhoods is 1 book per 300 children.” In Orleans Parish, 40.5% of children under 18 were living in low-income neighborhoods before Hurricane Katrina (U.S. Census, 2000). In 2006, 53% of Orleans Parish fourth graders and 63% of eighth graders scored below the basic literacy level on the standardized LEAP test (LA Department of Education, 2007). By providing children with books they can take home and keep, First Book–Greater New Orleans targets the only variable that correlates significantly with reading scores—the number of books in the home.

“Access to books and educational material is the single biggest barrier to literacy development in the United States and beyond. If we can solve the problem of access, we will be well on the road to realizing educational parity – a goal which has eluded this country for generations.”-- Susan B. Neuman, Ph.D. University of Michigan, Ctr. for Improvement of Early Reading Achievement

With the reduction of poverty in the New Orleans area, post-Katrina, (and the overall reduction of poverty in the region), the suburbs are now home to the vast majority of poor in Southeast Louisiana. Between 1999 and 2008-10, the share of the region’s poor living in suburbs increased from 56 percent to 67 percent. The cities of New Orleans and Houma now have 87,000 impoverished residents, while the suburbs of Southeast Louisiana have 174,000 impoverished residents according to the GNOCDC: Poverty in Southeast Louisiana.

The deadline for our next grant cycle is Friday, January 25, 2013 at 5 p.m.  If your organization is in St. Bernard Parish, please complete the grant application for St. Bernard Parish.  Grant applications must be emailed only to neworleans_la@firstbook.org or FirstBookGNO@aol.com.

To download a grant application, click here.

For the St. Bernard Parish application, click here.

First Book-Greater New Orleans
PO Box 50394
New Orleans, LA 70150

Phone: 504-309-6012         
Fax: 504-309-6014

Grant Recipients

First Book-Greater New Orleans has given book grants to many programs in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, St. Charles and St. John Parishes. A typical book grant lasts for a six month period and offers each child in the program a steady diet of books (usually one book per month), all at no cost to the program. Because program administrators select the titles from the First Book Marketplace, our book grants enable programs — often for the first time — to select books to integrate into curriculum.

Read a list of some of the organizations that have received book grants from First Book-Greater New Orleans.

Find out how to Receive Books for your organization.

Local Sponsors and Donors

We are able to provide brand-new, high-quality books to children in our community thanks to the generous financial contributions of local businesses and individuals.

First Book Wants You!  

We are looking for passionate, entrepreneurial people who want to make a difference in their community. Help us get books to kids who need them most.

Contact Us

You can contact us by sending an email.