First Book Canada and Tata Consultancy Services provide books to kids in downtown Toronto

TORONTO, Ontario (February 25, 2019) – First Book Canada and Tata Consultancy Services partnered to provide books to students at King Edward Junior Public School with a Reading Celebration on Friday, February 22nd.  First Book Canada invited guest author/illustrator Paul Covello, who spoke about his process and his recent bookCanada Animals. Each of the 54 grade 1 and grade 2 students received a brand new, signed copy of Covello’s book to take home for their personal library. The school received a $500 gift certificate to purchase brand new, high-quality books and educational resources for the students participating in the event. The school also received a 1,000 book donation from Tata for all of the students in the school.  Though books and educational resources are critical, they are scarce for many children attending high-needs schools. Access to adequate resources is the single greatest contributor to educational inequity, but recent research identified vast ‘book deserts’ concentrated in high-needs communities.1 In a poll of the First Book Canada network, 88 per cent of respondents reported that resources from First Book Canada help to close the achievement gap for the kids they serve.About First Book CanadaBy making new, high quality books and educational resources available on an ongoing basis, First Book Canada is transforming the lives of children and elevating the quality of education in the country. Since 2009, First Book Canada has distributed over 7 million new books to hundreds of thousands of children in need across Canada. For more information, or to register for books, visit us atfirstbookcanada.organd follow our latest news onTwitter,Facebook,Instagram, andLinkedIn.

Media Contact:

Calyssa Erb, Communications Coordinator, First Book Canadacerb@firstbook.org866.732.3669 ext. 4383 ###