What Was Your First Book?" Join us on May 18th!

On May 18th, we'll be hosting our 2nd annual "What Was Your First Book?" All-Ages Storytime, a fundraiser to help us get books to even more kids this year. Readers will include a Seattle Sounder, a Ride The Ducks driver, a Rat City Roller Girl, a b-boy performer, a local chef, and others! Stay tuned here for more updates. Co-sponsored by Elliott Bay Book Company and the Richard Hugo House, our event will take place on May 18th at the Richard Hugo House from 10am to noon, and tickets will cost $25--a donation that will get ten new books to children who need them!

Tickets are $25 for adults, $10 for kids ages 2-12 (kids under 2 are free). Your $25 donation provides 10 new books to kids who need them, and $10 gives one child 4 books of their own. 100% tax-deductible.	Make a sustaining yearlong gift of $15/month, and receive free admission for two adults and two kids! 100% tax deductible. Click the button and select "Sustaining gift" and"12 months".

About First Book-Seattle

Do you believe in the transformational power of books? So do we. By making new, high-quality books available on an ongoing basis, First Book-Seattle effectively extends the reach of the many organizations already serving King County kids from families in need. More than 100 local classrooms and community-based organizations have registered with us to receive books. 2010 Census data tells us that 12.5% of King County's youth are living below the poverty line, and many families living at the poverty line or below do not have the resources to purchase new books at retail. We know that the presence of books in the home is the single greatest factor predicting future literacy, and our goal is to get 6 new books to every child who needs them. We hope you'll join us. 

What We've Got Planned for 2013

In February, we partnered with the Rat City Roller Girls to kick off a "Read & Roll" literacy challenge for first and second graders at Sand Point Elementary, one of our Recipient Groups. (See more about this on our blog.) We then brought Nancy Pearl, Seattle librarian and author, to a Rat City Roller Derby bout to read fan favorite "Where The Wild Things Are" at halftime. It was a super-fun night during which we raised over $1800 in donations!

This spring, we'll be continuing our student-led "Pay It Forward" program. Students at Concord Elementary are completing a self-designed literacy challenge now. Upon successful completion of that challenge, these kids will be giving new books to another group of children in one of our Recipient Group classrooms. 

In the fall, we'll be tabling at area farmers' markets, and hosting a soon-to-be-announced special evening event. We'll also be hosting an art show at a space in the University District, with art for sale donated by local artists. In December, we'll be providing holiday wrapping at several local independent businesses.

2012 Recap

• Distributed over $12,000 in book grants to Kent Youth & Family Service’s pilot Kindergarten Academy program, Aki Kurose Middle School, Concord Elementary, Health Sciences & Human Services High School, Sand Point Elementary, Valley Cities Family Support Program, Wing Luke Elementary, Star Lake ECEAP, and five Head Start preschools.
• Distributed over 100,000 new books to local Recipient Groups through our national traveling Book Bank.
• Kicked off our kid-powered “Pay It Forward” reading program. Kids at Graham Hill Elementary successfully completed a reading challenge in order to give 75 new “Magic Treehouse” books to 2 classrooms at Concord Elementary, who are now working on their own reading challenge in order to “pay it forward” to a Title I classroom of their choice.

Will You Help Us Continue to Share the Power of Reading?

Members of our Books To Kids Club sign up online to make a sustaining monthly donation of $15 or more. Every $15 gift gives a stack of six new books to a child who needs them. At the end of a year, you’ve given the gift of reading to 12 kids. After two years, you’ve filled an entire classroom with books. Books To Kids Club members receive special discounts from our partner businesses, including Elliott Bay Book Company, Mockingbird Books, and Blue Highway Games. We can meet 100% of the need here in King County--getting 6 new books to every single child living below the poverty line--with just over 4,000 Books To Kids Club members. To join, click on the "Donate Now" tab at the top of this page, and check the "Sustaining Donation" button with any gift of $15 or more.

A gift of any amount, one-time or sustaining, gets books to local kids who need them, and 96% of the money we raise goes toward books. $25 provides ten books, and $330 gives six books each to an entire classroom of 22 children. If your employer offers matching donations, we’re glad to help fill out that form. You can reach me at seattle@firstbook.org, and we’re on Facebook too. We also welcome volunteers to help with grantwriting, event planning, and more!