Chronicle Books' #GiveBooks Campaign Donates 10,000 Books to Kids in Need Through First Book

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Dec 18, 2013, 04:30 ET

Every pin, tweet and signature of the #GiveBooks pledge generated one new book for a child in need

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 10,000 people have pinned, signed, tweeted and mentioned Chronicle Books' #GiveBooks campaign, since it began on Nov. 1. Authors, booksellers, publishers and the general public have shared their love of reading, flooding social media channels with tweets, pins and pledges to #GiveBooks this holiday season. The social media campaign featured a call to arms to support local bookstores, promote literacy and provide books to kids in need through First Book.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131218/DC35804)

A classroom of first-graders at Anawalt Elementary School in Anawalt, West Virginia, along with educator Debbie Elmore, show off their new books. Chronicle Books, the publisher, and First Book, a national nonprofit, provided 10,000 brand-new books to kids in need, including the students at Anawalt Elementary. (PRNewsFoto/First Book) (PRNewsFoto/FIRST BOOK)

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101214/DC17316LOGO-b)

First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides new books to children from low-income families, will distribute the books to its national network of 70,000 schools and community programs.

"For years, Chronicle Books has organized a large holiday marketing campaign to help sell our books. Like all retailers, we rely on the end-of-the-year shopping frenzy to help our business. But we also place a high value on social responsibility. Giving back is an integral part of our corporate culture, and we have a long history of working in our community to make a difference," says Guinevere de la Mare, Chronicle Books Senior Community Manager.

Chronicle Books celebrated the campaign's success with an added gift of personalized books for students at two schools in McDowell County, West Virginia. Copies of the holiday keepsake book 'The Night Before Christmas' produced delighted smiles, especially when delivered by a special guest reader dressed in red!

"The key to the campaign, which was fully supported by our executive staff, was that we were not telling people to buy Chronicle Books; we were encouraging them to buy ANY books in the larger service of a shared love of reading," says de la Mare.

"First Book was thrilled when Chronicle approached us with this idea, and we loved that so many people got involved to help spread the message," said Kyle Zimmer, president and CEO of First Book. "It's remarkable what people will do when given the opportunity to bring books to kids in need."

About First Book
First Book is a nonprofit social enterprise that has distributed more than 100 million books and educational resources to programs and schools serving children from low-income families throughout the United States and Canada. By making new, high-quality books available on an ongoing basis, First Book is transforming the lives of children in need and helping elevate the quality of education. For more information, please visit us online or follow our latest news on Facebook and Twitter.

Contact: Brian Minter
[email protected]
202-639-0115

SOURCE First Book