Room to Read is a global non-profit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California. The organization focuses on working in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments to improve literacy and gender equality in education. Room to Read has reached 23 million children and has worked in 20 countries.

History

Room to Read was co-founded and launched by John Wood, Erin Keown Ganju and Dinesh Shrestha in 1999 after Wood visited several local schools in Nepal. He observed the teachers' and students' enthusiasm and lack of resources, which led him to quit his job and build a global team to create sustainable programs that help solve their education challenges Wood and Shrestha worked with rural communities to build schools called School Room and established libraries called Reading Room. They later expanded beyond libraries, to begin the Girls' Education program in 2000, which focuses on young girls and provides a long-term commitment to their education. In 2001, Ganju launched Room to Read in Vietnam. Since then, Room to Read's operations have expanded to include 20 countries.

Programs

Room to Read's Literacy Program supports literacy development for primary school students. The organization works with local authors and illustrators to create and distribute children's books. It also introduced an online learning platform called Literacy Cloud during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through its Girls' Education Program, Room to Read supports girls with resources, mentorship and a life skills curriculum that helps them overcome challenges to education.

Impact

Since its inception in 2000, Room to Read has reached 32 million children in underserved communities around the world:

Awards and recognition