Carroll County

Ferst Readers of Carroll County, Inc.

Ferst Readers of Carroll County began working in 2004 with a group of volunteers who believed that giving children the magic of reading would change our county literacy. In 2005, this group began registering children ages birth to five to receive free, age-appropriate books each month in the mail. The book comes addressed to the child and includes a Parent Newsletter to the parent or caregiver. 

The local organization works to register children and to raise the funds to pay for the books. It continues to be an all-volunteer organization, with more than 60 people involved, in all the work to keep up with registration and fundraising. New volunteers are always welcome. Today the organization is made up of an Executive Board with six teams working to handle Communication, Fundraising, Children’s Registration, Family Education, Statistical Data Analysis, and Volunteer Management. Some of these teams have more than 20 people working hard behind the scenes.

Ferst Readers has a team of people with early childhood literacy experience who select the books to be mailed to the children. The library of books now includes almost 200 titles provided by three  publishers: Harper Collins, Peachtree Publishing and Our Rainbow Press. You can find the book list on the Ferst Readers website at https://www.ferstreaders.org/about-us/read-to-me-library. This list is updated annually with new books added each year. It’s our goal that each child have his or her own library of books. This list will change for each child, because the books are age-appropriate.

In 2019, Ferst Readers of Carroll County has served almost 4500 children and mailed almost 3500 books each month. The cost of that is $36 per child per year. It’s a significant budget made possible by donations from individuals, several fundraising events, and grants from sponsors who believe in our mission. The biggest fundraiser is the Fashion Ferst Luncheon in October. All the money raised stays in Carroll County and is managed by the Community Foundation of West Georgia. 

Conversations Count is a new program for parents and caregivers of young children ages birth to three to help them understand early childhood development and the importance of reading to and talking with their children. This program teaches parents how to have interactions with their children. Every parent wants the best for their child and reading is a beginning of learning and development. Ferst Readers is training facilitators to teach this program in schools, churches, day care centers, and other organizations who are in touch with young families.

Want more information or want to help? Contact us by email at  

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*DONOR SPOTLIGHT*