About Us

First Book - Denver Metro is a local chapter of First Book that is dedicated to getting new books to kids in need. We are passionate about sharing the love of reading with children who don't have access to reading materials at home. Boards like ours across the country have the ability to really get involved with the community using people who actually live in it–and the fruits of our board's efforts go directly to the Denver metro. The funds we raise put new books in the hands of our community's kids.

First Book-Denver is in the process of revitalizing its local presence. After a challenging year in 2011, we are ready to hit the ground running in 2012. We are also on Facebook and Twitter, so check out our pages!

Below is some information about First Book's national presence.

First Book at a Glance

• First Book provides new books to children in need, tackling a critical barrier to literacy development – access to books and educational materials. First Book has distributed more than 80 million books to schools and community organizations serving children from low-income families in thousands of communities.
• First Book currently reaches more than 25,000 registered organizations and schools that serve children in need from birth to age 18.
• To obtain books and resources, programs must complete a simple online registration to verify their eligibility. In addition to programs that serve children from low-income families, First Book also provides new books and educational materials to programs serving children of active military members, and organizations for children with serious medical conditions.
• National in scope, but local in impact, First Book relies on a network of dedicated volunteer groups in hundreds of communities throughout the U.S. that provide book grants to local programs and raise awareness of literacy issues.
• First Book is a partnership-based organization – we work with corporations, nonprofit groups and publishers to achieve our mission.
• Kyle Zimmer co-founded First Book in 1992, and she continues to lead the organization.

Our Financial Efficiency

First Book’s business model is designed for maximum efficiency. Non-programmatic costs total less than 3% of revenue – which means that 97% of revenue supports First Book’s mission and programs.