by Joseph Botwey (Worldreader’s man on the ground in Ghana)

It’s amazing what Worldreader is doing on Ghana’s educational front with e–readers. Parents are giving more attention to what their children are reading because now they have a common library that the whole family is reading from. I’m beginning to believe that the Worldreader can be the thread that unifies the Ghanaian family.  I believe it because I am witnessing it every day.

Students at Kade primary and JHS have cared for their e-readers very well without any going missing. So we decided to congratulate and encourage the students to continue their responsibilities by throwing a party for them.  As you know, only one classroom per school has e-readers– but the party was for whole school.  It has been a collective effort and thus we celebrated it as such.

Nana Banchie Darkwah, Chief of Kade (and former student at this school), used his experience to encourage the students to make reading a daily activity, since it will help them improve on their vocabulary in the English language. Then we moved from class to class to distribute drinks and biscuits.  Students were happily crazy, running around, shouting and making funny faces.  It was a happy affair- and a success since students understood the motive behind the party; they are encouraged to continue embracing the e-reader program and read more and more.

by Elizabeth Wood

On Monday, I introduced my “Meet the Readers” blog series and now I will share with you Part 2.

Meet Abigail Amoh Paintstil, a student at Kade SHS.  I remember meeting her–in fact, we interviewed her after school and she said she wants to become a journalist when she grows up.  ”Then you have to read a lot of books to become an journalist,” I told her.  It’s nice to see that she is doing exactly that!  She likes to stay informed with The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, but she is also a fantasy buff– she’s downloaded A Discovery of Witches, Ghost Stories and Fairy Prince and Other Stories.  Could her mother be using her Kindle to research for her family?  I think so–she also has Potty Training Boys and The Minds of Boys, Saving our Sons from Falling Behind in School and Life.

Meet Derick Kisi, an amazing teacher at Adeiso JHS.  I remember when he told his class over and over again how privileged they were to be getting “the first e-readers in all of Africa”.  He has downloaded Date with Destiny: Find the Love You Need, The Truth About Protecting Your IRAs and 401(k)s,  The Keynesian Endpoint, Instant MBA, Best Practices for Persuasive Presentations, The 1-2-3 Money Plan: The Three Most Important Steps to Saving and Spending Smart, and Fat, Forty, Fired: One Man’s Frank, Funny, and Inspiring Account of Losing His Job and Finding His Life, among many others.

We are tickled pink about how much reading is happening- we have said time and again that we are floored about how many books students and teachers are downloading.  But it isn’t just that: it’s how e-readers are being used as a tool for personal enrichment for students, teachers, families–everyone around them.  It’s no secret that education can be an equalizer but Worldreader is making a huge impact by giving people access to whatever subject they are interested in. This is something unique in development projects–something that donated books simply cannot do.

I am so thrilled about our upcoming partnership with Booklending.com, founded by  Worldreader friend, Catherine MacDonald.  Our partnership was recently written up in the Sydney Morning Herald and I invite you to take a look at what they are doing.  There are a myriad of opportunities there!

by Elizabeth Wood

As Director of Digital Publishing for Worldreader, I am constantly looking at what our students in Ghana are reading so I can try to get more of what interests them.  What I adore about this job is seeing how complex these childrens’ interests are–I like to imagine them sitting in their homes and exploring the whole world on their e-reader.  This week, I will share with you a series of posts that I’ll call: “Meet our readers”.

Today’s star pupil is Amos Owusu, a student at Kade JHS.  I specifically remember meeting him when I was there in November– he was in the class that created the “e-reader song” that you can see at the end of this video (the song’s lyrics went something like: “E-reader is powerful, yeah! Ghana Power!).   In addition to local content and textbooks, this young man is downloading Investor’s Business Daily on a regular basis, learning all about business worldwide.  But he is also a romantic, and is downloading the free samples of Nicholas Sparks’ Dear John and Jennifer Erin Valent’s Fireflies in December.  More to come soon!

By Colin McElwee

Worldreader is a relatively young organization; this time last year we didn’t even have a web site.  We have done a lot with the few but valuable resources we possess.  One of the resources that we have used intensively has been our visual identity (better known as our logo) which our friends at Rassak speedily created before we took off for the first trial in Ghana in March 2010.  That logo has served us well this year but we thought it was time to review whether it would take us through the next few critical years.

What’s the value of the logo? Well it’s really important. It’s the piece of the iceberg you see poking out of the water that should represent all that is hidden below the water line. Remember icebergs only get really complicated when that is not the case, and they communicate something above the water line incoherent with that below– ask the Titanic!

We deal with a great deal of stakeholders, whether they are funders, multilateral agencies, governments, publishers, teachers or students. We want each of them to see us as we really are: unpretentious, open, modern, rigorous, pro-active, inspirational and professional.  In fact, how we are perceived can have an incredible practical value as we often have limited and sporadic personal contact with some very critical partners.  Over time it is important to us that they retain a positive, genuine and credible perception of us. This, of course, depends upon what we do, but the logo is the signature that we enter with and that which we leave behind.

Both David and I have some experience of re-branding having led the design of the new visual identities at our former employers–myself at ESADE and David at Amazon. There is often an enormous amount of work needed to achieve clear and incisive thinking on organizational needs and respective strategic priorities. And to translate all of this thinking to a visual identity you need a great branding agency as a partner.  We were so very lucky to find Caselli Associates, a group of talented, tenacious and creative people.

After several rounds where visual solutions were presented, discounted and or refined, we unanimously agreed on the new and soon-to-be launched logo. Make sure you watch this space!

By David Risher

It’s anyone’s guess if the events leading to Mubarak’s resignation would have happened without Facebook and Twitter.  Having visited Egypt myself last year, I can say that there’s been a tremendous amount of frustration and anger building up for years against the President and his policies.  And as many have noted, if the Egyptian people hadn’t been ready to protest, Facebook wouldn’t have mattered.

But they were ready to protest, and Facebook and Twitter did matter.  And if you can’t read, you can’t Tweet.  Without books and written material, it’s pretty hard to learn to read, let alone become a curious citizen of the world.

As we’ve seen recently in Egypt, books represent more than words on paper or a screen. They symbolize the gifts of knowledge, sage wisdom, and freedom of expression.

Egyptians understand the role literacy plays so deeply that people recently risked their personal safety to protect the nation’s library in Alexandria. According to media reports, including one posted in the Guardian in the United Kingdom, the city’s youth, working with the army, took it upon themselves to safeguard the library from vandals, and looters. Having seen their ancient library ruined, Egyptians want to see the modern version– and the knowledge within– survive.

In the very long run, Worldreader aspires to have an impact on the societal level as well as the individual level. While we’ve already has made very personal connections, as seen from the letters by some of the 500 students and teachers in our program, we aim to also create a positive and lasting advantage for the broader community.

According to UNESCO statistics, more than half the 6th grade students in six sub-Saharan African countries attend school in a classroom without a single book. Only 40% of schools in Kenya have any kind of school library… and their definition of a library is extremely broad.  Yet access to a 500-book library seems to be roughly equivalent to three years of schooling.  Students in our program have an average of 85 books each that they carry with them and share with parents and friends. This number grows daily, and in the next few weeks, we’ll announce how our program participants will have access to even more books.  Also, thanks to the aggressive promotional work going on with e-readers everywhere, they will continually have access to hundreds of new books.

This is all incredibly exciting: the more books we make available, the more likely it is the kids and families will find something they enjoy. We believe that over time, the cumulative effect of our work could have an enormous impact on entire societies where we operate. Children who grow up reading will have increased opportunities to excel economically, affect social change in their communities, and influence their nation’s overall well-being.

Our mission is “Books for All,” and that means figuring out how to support people everywhere, not just one country at a time.  It’s a big goal, but in the long term we want to help individuals and societies all over the world get access to the world’s books so they can improve their lives.  That might mean becoming a doctor and saving a life.  Or it might mean being able to send a Tweet that galvanizes a revolution.

By Susan Moody

Worldreader just received a packet of around 500 letters from the students in our iREAD pilot in Ghana.  They are mostly entitled “Me and my e-reader,” and they’re a joy to read.  Since Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, we thought we’d share a little bit of the love…

From Abigail Appiah (Kade SHS): When the e-reader was given to me, I couldn’t control my happiness. This is because it is the first time I have set my two naked eyes on such a thing. The electronic reader helps to research.  Even when you are reading and you meet a word which you don’t understand, you can just cross check it with your e-reader.  I mean, there is an Oxford Dictionary on it and I am happy about that. So the electonic reader has helped me in so many ways and I love it and I am saying that I appreciate it very much.

From Kenneth Normento (Adeiso SHS): I was very glad the very day I got the e-reader.  I took it home and started going through it myself.  I enjoyed it so much that I even had a sleepless night. I e-read story books, magazines, newspapers, and a lot of textbooks. I taught my siblings how to use the e-reader over Christmas and how to maintain it well. My family is very happy that I have an e-reader.

From Earnest Opare (Kade SHS): The first day I got the e-reading device I felt so excited because my mother was so proud that I have this special device and I can learn more. There are interesting stories on the e-reader which I feel comfortable to read and one is “The Magic Tree House” about a boy called Jack and a girl called Annie and their unsinkable ship.

From Philip Logo (Adeiso JHS):   I hope by the grace of God you are as fine as I am here. The e-reader makes the learning of books very easy.  It also makes me very happy to read anytime I have free time.  I have gotten to check the meaning of many words. I love my e-reader!

From Deborah Nadutey (Kade primary): I am 10 years old. This letter is about my e-reader.  It has helped me so much because when I am going to school I carry more books.  Before the e-reader I did not carry any books. I love my e-reader  and it helps me to answer a question when the madam asks.  Thank you Worldreader!

There were countless noteworthy letters among the hundreds we read, and we wanted to highlight a small selection of these to demonstrate how e-readers are changing worlds.  We hope our donors feel wonderful about the opportunities they are affording these amazing children.  Books for all!

By Barbara Hummel

Worldreader‘s donors, such as USAID and SocialEndeavors, are helping us refine a system, based on e-reader technology, that will drive down the cost per book delivered to children in the developing world. That means more books in kids’ hands, plus mammoth ensuing individual and social benefits.  Students can dream bigger and ultimately live larger lives; widespread improvements in literacy will drive economic growth.

We’ve got the fundamentals working in our favor. A digital book costs less to produce than a paper copy, and far less to distribute. In most developing countries, the infrastructure for getting e-books from publishers into kids’ hands is already in place in the form of mobile phone networks. For less than one hundred dollars, Worldreader can send thousands of digital books to thousands of eager readers – bypassing planes, trains and automobiles, and saving weeks, even months, of time.  (For the sake of comparison, we did a little calculating this weekend: Worldreader sent 23,714 books to students and teachers in Ghana the weekend of January 15. Transatlantic shipping alone for print copies would have been about $50,000!) Although our model requires an up-front investment in e-readers for kids on the receiving end, we’re benefiting from falling prices. An Amazon Kindle, for example, dropped steeply from US $249 to $189 between 2009 and 2011.

Worldreader has long touted the fact that every e-reader is a library in hand. But we didn’t anticipate the extent to which that metaphor would hold true. Our ongoing Ghana iREAD study reveals that each student with an e-reader is sharing his or her device with at least three others – including parents, siblings and friends. The kids have taken charge and one-upped our wildest dreams: They now have portable lending libraries at their disposal!

In 2010, we confirmed our conviction that kids for whom books have been out of reach will soar if given a chance. We’ve witnessed how their grasp of e-reader technology is practically intuitive, and we’ve watched hundreds become avid consumers of books and periodicals overnight.  In 2011, we’ll conclude the Ghana pilot study launched last year. By July, we’ll have a clearer understanding of how and to what extent book choice boosts functional literacy. We’ll also have learned about how best and most efficiently to train teachers and provide ongoing support to students across primary, junior and senior high-grade levels.

But we’ve got groundbreaking to do as well – and that’s where our supporters come in.  The financial contributions we secure in the coming months will help us expand our footprint in Africa – launching additional pilots to build our store of knowledge and fine-tune the Worldreader model, with an eye to eventual deployment on a global scale.  Our donors will also help make available as broad as possible an array of books in every market where we’re operating.  Last December, as we launched iREAD and began planning for Worldreader 2011, we spoke to Ghanaian students at all grade levels about their dreams. We learned that they, like many of the world’s poorest kids, aren’t asking for much at all: just the eminently feasible magic of books in hand, so they can reach for more promising futures.

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