What is Worldreader?
Why use digital books instead of paper books?
Does Worldreader provide Kindles to individuals for personal use?
What are some of the main challenges you face?
How much do the e-readers cost developing communities?
How much do e-books cost?
What languages are supported?
Why are you working in Africa rather than in the US or Europe?
Will these schools have electricity and wireless access?
Who decides which books are loaded onto the e-reader?
Which e-reader is Worldreader using?
Won’t the e-readers break, and who will fix them?
Won’t theft be a problem?
Is Worldreader a charity or a for-profit company?
Is my donation deductible for US tax purposes?
How can I find out more?
What is Worldreader?
Worldreader is a US- and Europe-based non-profit social enterprise that is transforming the way the developing world reads. Our mission is to unlock the potential of millions of children through the use of digital books in places where access to reading materials is very limited. We operate in the United States as a not-for-profit public charity under IRC Sec. 501(c)(3). In Spain, we are organized as a not-for-profit Fundación under the auspices of the Ministry of Education.
Why use digital books instead of paper books?
Digital books have several advantages over printed books, especially for the developing world where millions of children struggle to get even subsistence access to reading materials.
First, it’s less expensive to publish and distribute e-books than paper books. Widespread mobile phone connectivity, the declining price of hardware devices and increasingly affordable digital content has made e-book delivery a viable low-cost solution for many developing regions. The cost of shipping e-books is nearly zero, even to very remote areas, compared to the $1.00 or more per book it costs to load a shipping container and send it by boat, based on our research and experience.
Also, handheld devices, such as e-readers like the Amazon Kindle, provide almost immediate access to hundreds of thousands of books, from textbooks to bestsellers. Since e-readers can store thousands of books, they eliminate the need for physical storage and give children, parents and schools access to a much wider selection books than what may be physically available in their communities.
Beyond these benefits, some e-readers have added features such as text-to-speech for new readers, the vision-impaired, or children whose parents cannot read or whose native language is not the language of instruction. Built-in dictionaries and access to Wikipedia can be very helpful. And, digital distribution makes possible the publication of much more local content, including newspapers, magazines, flyers and newsletters, health and voting information, among other things.
Does Worldreader provide Kindles to individuals for personal use?
No, we do not provide e-readers on an individual basis. Worldreader identifies and partners with organizations, schools and governments in order to have a bigger impact across a larger community. Individuals can directly purchase e-readers for their personal use from international device manufacturers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and many others.
The Worldreader Kit may be appropriate if you sponsor a school in the developing world and want to implement an e-reader program. Learn more here.
What are some of the main challenges you face?
Spearheading the widespread adoption of digital books in the developing world comes with some challenges.
Although prices are declining quickly, e-readers still remain relatively expensive for many potential users. Getting e-readers into the hands of children that need them the most is logistically complicated, as is providing community training and support. Local governments and school administrators must sign-off on education-related technology and content deployments, and receiving their full support takes time. Much of the world’s teaching materials are not yet available in e-book formats or in local languages used in regional school districts. Also, reliable electricity sources and mobile phone networks are not always a given.
In short, the opportunity to provide books for all is great, but so are the challenges. This is at the heart of what Worldreader hopes to address.
How much will the e-readers cost developing communities?
The price of today’s best e-readers is less than $200, with some versions selling for under $100 – far less than what they were selling for only a few years ago. While we expect prices to continue to fall rapidly, the cost, at least in the near-term, remains prohibitive for most of the developing world. Our donors and partners help subsidize the gap between the cost of the e-readers and the price parents and local governments are willing to pay.
In addition to the device cost, the cost of a protective case and a reading light must be considered. Worldreader’s partners provide these accessories as part of the program.
How much do e-books cost?
The books we load onto e-readers are available to students and teachers in our programs at discounted rates. Beyond that, best-selling e-books range from $5.00 to $12.00, an average of one-third to one-half the retail price of paper books; many older and promotional books are free. Worldreader works with over a dozen African publishers, digitizing their books and making them available to the world. These digital editions sell for approximately the same price as the paper versions, averaging around $3.50 per title. We are working with publishers and other partners to make content more affordable in developing markets.
What languages are supported?
We envision a world in which digital books are available in all the world’s languages. However, since most e-books are currently published in English, our initial projects have targeted English-speaking countries including Ghana, Kenya and Uganda. We work with local publishers to digitize books and material supporting the school curriculum in English and in local languages. For instance, our work in Kenya includes digitizing books in Kiswahili. For smaller communities, we believe it will be critical to help create an ecosystem of local digitization of books and other content.
Why is Worldreader working in Africa rather than in the U.S. or Europe?
Our primary focus is on the developing world where access to books is the most limited and where we can have the greatest near-term impact. As the World Bank notes, only 1 in 19 African countries has anything close to adequate book provision in schools. Over time, we hope to expand our work throughout the world.
Do remote schools have electricity and wireless access?
Mobile phones have paved the way for electricity even in remote locations, and telecommunications networks in the developing world are often on par with, or have leapfrogged, network standards compared to more developed zones. In Ghana, for instance, mobile phone penetration is above 80%. Additionally, e-readers consume relatively little power; a one-hour charge typically lasts two weeks or more. In some areas, we need to provide additional help. In the case of one of our first pilots in Ghana, the school did not have reliable power, so we partnered with other organizations to help fund a solar cell and satellite Internet access.
Who decides which books are loaded onto the e-readers?
We provide schools, communities and partners with a list of textbooks and storybooks available in our program. Based on their interests and needs, they choose which books they want loaded onto the e-readers. They also have access to hundreds of thousands of books for purchase, although many may be priced too high to be of significant local interest.
In addition, students and teachers can download free books and samples onto their e-readers.
For a list of the books currently available at very low cost or free to Worldreader programs, click here.
Which e-reader is Worldreader using?
For us, Amazon’s Kindle is currently the best e-reader on the market for our needs, thanks to its ease of use, its access to over one million books, its robust publishing platform which we use to publish many of our books, and its access to a broad mobile-phone network. We continually evaluate e-readers and other devices based on their suitability to our evolving needs.
In addition, Worldreader has partnered with biNu to provide a mobile-phone app for reading books on low-end phones. Click here to learn more about this early effort.
Will the e-readers break, and who fixes them?
Yes, sometimes e-readers break, and Worldreader is exploring various repair options.
To help reduce breakage rates, we partner with businesses that provide general support, protective covers and other related accessories, and charging and download stations. We send feedback to the e-reader manufacturers and suggest ways to improve the ruggedness of their readers. We are also experimenting with some local repairs ourselves.
Won’t theft be a problem?
So far, it hasn’t been. Our projects include significant community involvement as part of our risk management strategy. Especially in tightly-knit villages, very little goes on without the knowledge of community elders. When an entire community values education and decides to bring e-readers to their children, we have found that the risk of theft diminishes. We continue to monitor issues surrounding theft in all our projects. Medium-term, we expect e-readers will improve their capabilities to be remotely disabled under certain circumstances (as might be the case if an e-reader is taken out of its local wireless area), and will be working with manufacturers to help implement these kinds of systems.
Is Worldreader a charity or a for-profit company?
We are a registered non-profit social enterprise that believes in the power of market forces to do good in the world. Like any nonprofit, we raise funds to help achieve our goals. In our case, donors’ funds goes towards subsidizing the cost of e-readers and content, and provides logistics, training and administrative support. At the same time, we are firm believers that market forces can help achieve a sustained, long-term impact. For that reason, we intend to: sell (rather than give away) e-readers at a discounted rate; work with local and international publishers to create low-cost (but not necessarily free) digital content, and create self-sustaining business ecosystems to support our efforts.
Is my donation deductible for US tax purposes?
Yes. We operate in the United States as a not-for-profit public charity under IRC Sec. 501(c)(3). Our tax-exempt status became effective March 23, 2010, our date of incorporation. In Spain, we are organized as a not-for-profit Fundación under the auspices of the Ministry of Education. Click here for more information, or here to make a donation.
How can I find out more?
Track our progress via our blog, friend us on Facebook at or follow us on Twitter.
To contact us directly, email us at info@worldreader.org.