Communities In Schools of North Carolina and First Book Team Up To Help Kids Read

(Raleigh, NC) December 6, 2007 – Communities In Schools of North Carolina (CISNC) and First Book are teaming up to provide over 250,000 free books to students across North Carolina. These brand new, first quality books, are being distributed to all thirty-eight Communities In Schools local affiliates over the next several weeks.

“This donation of books from First Book is a wonderful resource for all of our CIS Local Affiliates here in North Carolina,” said Linda Harrill, president and chief executive officer of CIS of North Carolina. “By continuing to work together with community organizations dedicated to helping our students succeed, such as First Book, students across North Carolina are able to receive the educational resources they might not otherwise have.”

“First Book is proud to partner with Communities In Schools of North Carolina to support the heroic efforts of their affiliates, who are serving the hardest to reach children in their communities,” said Kyle Zimmer, president of First Book. “By providing ongoing access to new books and educational materials, First Book and Communities In Schools are helping to encourage a lifelong love of reading and learning in children throughout North Carolina.”

First Book is a nonprofit organization with a single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. CISNC local affiliates each received sixty boxes of books with approximately twenty three different titles from this donation. The books will be given to students living in families with limited means, who are enrolled in pre-kindergarten through middle school grades.

About First Book
First Book is a nonprofit organization with a single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. Through hundreds of local Advisory Boards, the First Book National Book Bank, and the First Book Marketplace, the organization provides an ongoing supply of new books to children participating in community-based mentoring, tutoring, and family literacy programs. First Book has provided more than 50 million new books to children in need in thousands of communities nationwide. For more information about First Book, please visit www.FirstBook.org or call 866-393-1222.

About Communities In Schools
Communities In Schools has earned its place as the nation’s leading community-based organization helping kids succeed in school and prepare for life. There are 39 local operational affiliates in North Carolina serving over 400 schools and other sites. During the past school year, CIS served over 130,000 youth and family members and it maintains a presence in the five largest school districts in North Carolina. For more information on Communities In Schools of North Carolina, visit www.cisnc.org.