Advisory Board Home  |   |   

Greater Richmond, VA

First Book - Greater Richmond has a single mission and purpose: To give children from low- income families in Greater Richmond the opportunity to read and own their first new books. We work to address one of the most important factors affecting literacy - access to books. By awarding book grants through our First Book Marketplace we gift an average of 6-12 new, age-appropriate books to each child, usually within the same year.  We only partner with literacy and education programs that allow the children in their programs to own the books in order for them to establish libraries in their own homes. 

This proven model increases literacy activities in the home, which is crucial to developing reading skills, as well as fostering a love for reading.  We focus on children at the preschool and elementary school levels and who, for financial reasons, may have little or no access to books.

To date, First Book - Greater Richmond, with the support of individuals like you, has provided grants totaling over $370,000 to 71 Recipient Groups in the Richmond area, resulting in over 170,000 new books being given to over 24,500 deserving children in our community.  And, we're not done yet!

Register Your Eligible Organization With First Book

If you’re an educator or program administrator and serve children from low-income families, military families, or children with disabilities, we can help. The first step in accessing any of the First Book resources is registering with us.

Eligible programs that complete the registration process receive access to the:

• First Book Marketplace, offering new books at 50 to 90 percent off retail prices.
• First Book National Book Bank, offering free books through Mass Book Distributions, sponsored by our National corporate supporters (pay only for shipping typically at 35 to 50 cents a book)
• Book grants through First Book – Greater Richmond’s local Advisory Board (Access the grant application process guidelines here.)

To find out if your organization is eligible to access First Book resources, please follow the steps in our registration process.

Help Us Get Books Into the Hands of Children in Need 

Volunteer

First Book - Greater Richmond is always looking for volunteers to help us read to and distribute books to the children in need in our community.  If you'd like to find out how you can get involved and make a difference in the life of a child, please click HERE.

Donate

Every $2.50 raised means one book for a child in need.  First Book - Greater Richmond works to provide a steady stream of books to each child we support through our partners in ending illiteracy.  For only $25.00, you can sponsor a child for an entire school year, by gifting 10 books.  Click HERE to donate now!

Contact Us

Should you have any questions about First Book - Greater Richmond, please send us an email.  We look forward to hearing from you!