Room To Read
A favorite of Red Room authors Leza Lowitz and Diana R. Chambers and Red Room founder and CEO Ivory Madison.
Name of founder: John Wood
Year founded: 2000
Mission: Room To Readestablishes schools, libraries, and provides educational resources for children throughout the developing world. Through direct partnership with local communities in Asia, Africa, and soon Latin America, the San Francisco-based organization enables the vital connection between early education and improved socioeconomic conditions for a child, a community, and, ultimately, a country at large.
Accomplishments:
- Nearly three hundred schools built
- Established nearly four thousand bilingual libraries
- Operations in seven countries
- 1.4 million books delivered
Profile: Room To Read is a global network that establishes schools and libraries to children who live in impoverished conditions around the world which would normally be denied access to literacy. What began as a simple book drive for ten schools in Nepal has evolved into the creation of educational resources. Room to Read's Local Language Publishing Program, one of five major enterprises, sources original content from local writers and illustrators, enabling Room to Read to publish new, high-quality books (to the tune of one hundred fifty published titles) in both the country's local language and in English.
Other programs include School Room, which partners with local villages to build schools; Reading Room, which establishing bilingual libraries stocked with donated books and other supplies; Computer and Language Room, which establishes access to vocational skills and employment opportunities; and Room to Grow Girls' Scholarships, which funds long-term scholarships for young girls who otherwise would not have access to education.
For more information about volunteer, sponsorship, and donation opportunities, please visit the organization's website. Red Room supports this and other selected causes our authors care about by donating free advertising space, and a portion of profits, to raise awareness and drive traffic to valuable causes that change the world.
-Jennifer Massoni and Huntington W. Sharp, Editors, Red Room
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