First Book / First Book Bakersfield

Contact Person: Ms. Sandra Yoon
Address: 1300 Baker Street, Bakersfield, CA 93305
Phone: (661) 631-4808
FAX: (661) 631-4804
Email Address: yoons@bcsd.com
Web Site: http://www.firstbook.org

Description of Organization:
First Book is a national nonprofit organization with a single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. The primary goal of First Book is to work with existing literacy programs to distribute new books to children who, for economic reasons, have little or no access to books. Since its inception, First Book has provided nearly 30 million new books to children in need in hundreds of communities nationwide.

In the years since First Book's founding, educators and policymakers have become acutely aware of the need to develop strong community-based resource programs for low-income children, which is precisely the focus of First Book at the local level. One recent report funded by the Packard and MacArthur Foundations found that the average child growing up in a middle class family has been exposed to 1,000 to 1,700 hours of one-on-one picture book reading before entering school. The study found that the average child growing up in a low-income family, however, has only been exposed to 25 hours of one-on-one reading during this same time period.

At the local level, First Book leverages the strength of its entrepreneurial Advisory Board model to spark social change. By providing community-based literacy programs with an ongoing supply of new books, First Book plays a critical role in enhancing the quality of preschool and after-school programs nationwide. A literacy program in St. Louis serving 50 low-income children, for example, could receive 50 books each month for a year from First Book-St. Louis. The books would be chosen by program leaders working directly with the children, incorporated into program lessons, and given to the children to take home and keep.

All books distributed by First Book are provided at no cost to the child or program. With the support of First Book, these programs are able-often for the first time-to develop a curriculum around the books they select, share these books with participating children, and enable these children to share the magic of their new books with siblings and other family members at home.

Literacy Programs:

  • Provides books to children at individual school sites
  • Operates in approximately 20 classrooms per year

Program Specifics:

  • Target population: Children in grades pre K - grade 2
  • Days of operation: Event happens one time per year on selected dates
  • Hours of operation: N/A
  • Target Communities: Greater Bakersfield & all of Kern County

How Results are Measured:

  • State content standards

Estimated numbers served:

  • 400 students annually (each child receives 6 books)

Other notes of interest:

  • Program seeks books, cash donations and volunteers


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