Buxton Books and The Charleston Library Society present An Evening with Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush
celebrating their new picture book, I Loved You First

Calling all readers, writers, and book lovers! Spend an evening with America’s favorite sister duo, Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush, as they celebrate the release of their new picture book, I Loved You First! This enchanting story beautifully captures the deep connection between parents and their children, drawing inspiration from the beauty of nature and the love that shapes our most cherished moments. 

Jenna Bush Hager is the co-host of TODAY with Jenna & Friends. In 2019, Hager founded TODAY's wildly popular Read With Jenna book club, with nearly 50 of her selections becoming New York Times bestsellers. In 2022, Hager created her production company, Thousand Voices, which recently announced its brand-new publishing imprint with Random House Publishing Group. She's written seven children's books and is a #1 New York Times bestselling author.

Barbara Pierce Bush is a board member and cofounder of Global Health Corps, an organization that has mobilized more than one thousand young leaders to solve some of the world’s biggest global health challenges. She is also Vice President, Social Impact for the NBA and co-author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Sisters First, The Superpower Sisterhood, and Sisters First: Stories from Our Wild and Wonderful Life. 

Each General Admission ticket includes a signed copy of their new picture book, I Loved You First (published by Hachette Book Group/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers).

VIP tickets include reserved seating in the front pews of the church and two copies of I Loved You First - one signed copy to take home and one copy to donate to Charleston Library Society's Book Drop, an initiative benefitting literacy in underserved children.

If you can't make it to the event but would like to donate a copy of I Loved You First to Book Drop, choose the Donate A Book ticket option. For more information on Book Drop, please click here. 

We hope to see you there for an unforgettable evening!

About I Loved You First: 

Celebrate the bond between parent and child in this lyrical story by former first daughters and #1 New York Times bestselling authors of Sisters First Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush.

There is nothing more important than the time we spend together, learning to see the world through each other’s eyes. From counting constellations to imagining shapes in fluffy clouds to hiking great canyons or jumping into the ocean, the special moments between a mother or father and their child are some of the most memorable and precious in our lives.
 
Inspired by the majesty of nature all around us, I Loved You First is an expansive and gently whimsical celebration of parental love and a companion to Jenna and Barbara’s New York Times bestselling children's books Sisters First and Love Comes First.

About Book Drop Children's Literacy Outreach Initiative:

With the support of Jenna Bush Hager, the Charleston Library Society launched the inaugural fundraiser for its Book Drop initiative with significant fanfare across two days in September 2024. CLS had the great honor of hosting 22 lauded authors and luminaries for the gift of their time and involvement, in support of our fundraising efforts to spread awareness of the critical importance of early childhood literacy.

Simply put, the goal is to improve and increase access to books for underserved children ages birth to five years old in order to foster literacy during the most critical years. The Book Drop initiative has two key facets, both facilitated by a bookmobile van – the physical manifestation of the program that makes it all possible. 

• Signature “First Library” Book Set – the Charleston Library Society’s collections packaged for a younger audience. This custom, self-published book set focuses on early learning through numbers, colors and letters, all pulled from our collections prior to 1931. This book set will be supplied to a partner non-profit, Books in Every Bag, to be delivered with their materials to every newborn in the tri-county area before leaving the hospital, with the goal of children signing up for their program which delivers a book a month until age 5. 
• “Little Free Libraries” – the second part of the Book Drop effort is establishing a books recirculation effort where new or very mildly used donated books can be circulated to free libraries which are located at other non-profits where families have children who need easier access to books. Libraries can be sponsored/adopted and the Book Drop program will replenish them regularly.