Reading Opens the World Campaign Surpasses 500,000

Joey Mathis is a First Book Marketing and Communication intern. She is currently an undergrad student at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

First Book has partnered with the American Federation of Teachers formore than a decade. Together we have worked to combat educational inequity by bringing books and educational resources to communities in need, specifically through engaging directly with those most impacted by educational inequity. Our previous partnerships have helped to build classroom libraries across the country and distributed books to children living in “book deserts.”

In 2021, the AFT launched theReading Opens the Worldinitiative with the overall goal of distributing one million books across the country and these four background objectives:

1. •Giving teachers and school staff the tools and professional development that translates the science of reading into useable resources to help students read and read well;

1. •Giving parents and caregivers fun and research-based tips and tools to support literacy;

1. •Building on and forging new connections between families, communities, educators and schools to be partners in students’ literacy; and

1. •Giving children and young people free books to read, love and keep.

The AFT