Room to Read is an organization founded by John Wood that aims to improve literacy rates and gender equality in education across Asia and Africa. It works to develop literacy skills among primary school children, support girls to complete secondary school, build libraries, publish books, and train teachers. Room to Read has benefited over 6 million children across 10 countries and has received numerous awards and recognition for its work.

1. Room to Read is an organisation set up by John Wood to improve literacy rates in various countries.
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2. Literacy today
Ability to read for knowledge, write coherently, and think critically
about the written word
Literacy rate (from CIA World Factbook)
• Refers to percentage of people above 15 who can read and write
• Total Population: 83.7%
• Male: 88.3%
• Female: 79.2%
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3. “Room to Read believes that World Change Starts with Educated Children. We
envision a world in which all children can pursue a quality education that enables
them to reach their full potential and contribute to their community and the world.”
Vision Statement
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4. To aid children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in
education
To develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children
Support girls to complete secondary school
Mission/ Objectives
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5. Facts
Room to Read has various fundraising networks in the United States
of America, Canada, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Mumbai, Singapore
and many other countries.
It serves ten countries in Asia and Africa: Bangladesh, Cambodia,
India, Laos, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Zambia
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6. Operation
Improving literacy among Primary School-aged Children by:
• Increasing access to reading materials
• Training teachers and librarians to teach and develop habits of reading
• Improving the conduciveness of the school environment
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7. Operation
Aiding in Girls’ Secondary Education by:
• Ensure gender equality in education
• Support girls in completing school education
• Creating a girl-friendly school environment
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8. Operation
It uses the following to achieve its objectives:
• Building schools
• Establishing school libraries
• Training teachers on literacy education
• Publishing local language children’s books
• Supporting education
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9. Operation
To achieve the above, there will be:
Literacy programmes
• Construction of:
• Multi-lingual libraries
• Schools and classrooms
• Supply of:
• Appropriate books for all education levels
• Supplementary teaching/ learning materials
• Investment in developing:
• Reading programme
• Teacher development workshops
• Research and monitoring of programmes to improve further
• Support of governments and non-governmental organisations
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10. Operation
Girls’ Education programmes
• Provision of:
• Financial assistance towards school fees/ costs of lving
• Tutoring and academic support
• Life skills activities and workshops (e.g. problem-solving, confidence building)
• Mentors acting as role models
• Development of:
• Teacher skills
• Infrastructure e.g. classrooms
• Parent, community, government cohesion
• Research and monitoring of programmes to improve further
• Support of governments and non-governmental organisations
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11. Impact
Room to Read has benefited over 6 million children since its inception.
It has set up more than 3000 schools and libraries.
Through this venture, children in developing countries are able to pursue a
proper education, regardless of gender.
This allows them to:
• break out of their poverty cycle in order to advance in society.
• Serve their communities better resulting in advancements of their society,
benefiting their country
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12. Recognition
66th best NGO in the World
UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy (2011)
Cambodian International Board of Books for Young People Award (2011)
UNICEF's "Best Early Childhood Development Publication of the Year"
Award (South Africa): 2011Academy for Educational Development
"Breakthrough Ideas in Education" Award (2007)
American Library Association "Presidential Citation" (2008)
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13. Recognition
Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship (2004-2005, 2006-2008, 2009, 2010-
2013)
Fast Company / Monitor Group "Social Capitalist" Award (2004, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008)
Charity Navigator's Top "4-Star" Rating (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
South Asian Journalists Association "Outstanding Story on Any Subject: New
Media" Award for "Nepal: A Girls' Life" (2008)
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14. Recognition
Salesforce.com's "Force for Change" Award (2007)
University of San Francisco "Asia Pacific Leadership" Award (2007)
Sand Hill Group Foundation "Social Entrepreneurship" Award (2006)
Laos Book Excellence Award for Local Language Publishing (2007, 2008,
2010)
Nepalese Society for Children's Literature Award (2004, 2005, 2009)
Draper Richards Foundation Fellowship (2002-2004)
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