Book giveaway encourages reading among underprivileged kids

There, in a box, were new books that he would read to his two young sons, a process he started right there on the curb with 5-year-old Ehsaan before he had even finished loading them into the trunk.

Mouhamad, whose wife is an elementary school teacher with plans to use those books, was one of 1,000 or more educators, librarians, social workers and literacy advocates who lined up Saturday for a book give-away at the Sports Basement at 15th and Bryant streets, sponsored by the nonprofit group First Book and United Educators of San Francisco, the local union.

The 42,516 books, including everything from "The Throne of Fire," by Rick Riordan, to "Tinker Bell," a picture book, were given free to San Francisco public school teachers and other literacy program administrators whose primary pupils are low-income children and teenagers.

"My father was a farmer in Vietnam and he taught me that education is important," said Mouhamad, a hospital technician. "I read to my children whenever I can to give them knowledge."

The idea behind the First Book program is to bring books to the homes of underprivileged children and instill in them the joy of reading without distraction, according to organizers.

"Classroom teachers intuitively know that when students have books at home, they do better in school," said Ken Tray, a teachers' union official who helped organize the event. "We love computers and we love the Internet, but there are concerns about people's attention being divided when they are on line. With a book, the student's full attention is on the book."

The giveaway, which was the first in the Bay Area and fifth nationwide this year, prompted educators from around the Bay Area to rush in for the free booty. People began lining up at 7 a.m. and by 9:30 a.m. the queue snaked through the Sports Basement show room, up the stairs, out the door, down the street and around the corner.

"Our kids come to school to get books, but we don't get money for books," said Denise Savoy, a humanities teacher at San Francisco Community School, as she slipped another "Artemis Fowl" into a box. "We have to beg, borrow or steal for books, so having something like this is a great thing."

San Francisco Supervisor David Campos, a Guatemalan immigrant who grew up in rough South Central Los Angeles, said education is the best way to fight inequality, which, as the tech boom has illustrated, is a growing problem in San Francisco.

"The greatest thing my parents did for me was to have books in the house," Campos said. "It was through books that I began to believe that I could do something with my life."

That belief, that hope, is what First Book organizers want to spread into underprivileged communities throughout the Bay Area.

"We want kids addicted to learning," said Dennis Kelly, president of the teachers' union. "Books are the drugs that get kids addicted."

Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Twitter: @pfimrite