An Action-Packed Week for Global LitClubs!

This was an exciting week for LitClubs! In partnership with the wonderful Rukmini Foundation, LitClubs launched in Nepal!

Meanwhile, another great LitWorld partner, the Otra Cosa Network, launched LitClub programming in Peru!

In Kisumu, Kenya, the elders of one of our LitClub communities were given a free eye care clinic in preparation for World Read Aloud Day, so that all community members can see and read on March 6! The LitClubs, which run through the Golden Girls Foundation, were on hand to read aloud to the elders of their community while they waited in line!

We are exhilirated by this global activity, and look forward to launching MORE LitClubs this week in Detroit. 

Save the Date for LitWorld's Gala 2013!

Save the date for our annual LitWorld Gala on
May 2, 2013.

Join us as we come together for a warm, joyful, one-of-a-kind celebration.

May 2, 2013 - 6:30 - 9pm

Metropolitan Pavilion
Metropolitan Suite
123 W. 18th St, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10011 

Click here for more exciting details.
RSVP and purchase tickets here!

Read It Forward on World Read Aloud Day!

Read it Forward for World Read Aloud Day by reading aloud and giving the gift of story in any way you can. Read It Forward on March 6, on behalf of the 793 million people who cannot yet read.

Here are your Top 5 Actions to Read It Forward:

1. Read aloud. To a child you know, to a group of seniors, to a new friend, to an old friend. 

2. Gather your colleagues and start a meeting by reading aloud an inspiring article, poem, or book excerpt.

3. Call or video chat friends who are far away. Reading aloud and sharing stories connects us across continents and oceans.

4. Spread the word online. Make the WRAD logo your avatar and use our sample social media posts to rally your networks.

5. Host a fun event. The WRAD event kit has a step by step guide to organize your read aloud celebration.

LitWorld Pilots Data Collection Project at Kibera Innovation Hub Site

LitWorld's Creative Director, Dorothy Lee, has landed in Kibera, Kenya! She is with our partners the Children of Kibera Foundation, Vera Solutions, and Jennifer Estrada to launch LitWorld's data collection project. Read Dorothy's reports from the field here.

"We introduced the basic idea of the project to the LitClub leaders, Jeff, Prisca, Maureen, Geoffrey, Gertrude, and they all took the draft of the survey. And then we had a discussion about the survey questions. And it was just awesome. I had a couple of moments where that was all I could think to myself: this is awesome. I could feel the project coming into existence around me. They were asking such great questions, and bringing such interesting and informative feedback to us, it just made me tingle. And then after we wrapped up, we got to immediately revise the whole survey before we forgot what anyone said."

LitWorld's First Spanish Speaking Programs to Launch in Peru!

Coming soon: LitClubs in Peru with our great partner, Otra Cosa!

LitWorld Ambassador Eliza Blum facilitated a beautiful virtual training session with our new LitWorld Leaders as they prepare to launch LitClubs in Huanchaco, Peru. These LitClubs will be LitWorld's first Spanish speaking programs!

Launching the Haiti Series with One Moore Book

This weekend LitWorld celebrated a new partnership with One Moore Book at the launch event of their new book collection, the Haiti series. 

One Moore Book publishes culturally sensitive and educational stories for children of countries with low literacy rates and underrepresented cultures. The books also serve as a key to unknown people and places for all children who do not have access to cultures outside of their own.

Part of the proceeds from Saturday's launch event will deliver the Haiti Series books to the children at LitWorld's newest Innovation Hub Site in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. We can't wait for the girls and boys to read these magical stories.

To learn more about One Moore Book and the Haiti Series visit onemoorebook.com.

The Stand in the Schoolhouse Door - Pam Allyn's Latest HuffPost Blog

"Today, on Martin Luther King Day, we honor the passing on Thursday of a civil rights hero, James A. Hood, who integrated the University of Alabama in 1963 together with a fellow student Vivian Malone. This seminal moment when they entered the university to defend civil rights became known as the "stand in the schoolhouse door.

All around the world, every day, the school bell rings. Children come into their classrooms, and seek the smile of their teacher, ready for the promise of a new day, to learn to read, write, think and grow. We hold these images as metaphors for the precious rights that belong to all children, as a symbol of our democracy which provides sanctuary for our children to become who they want to be, to dream dreams that can be fulfilled by their education

Today, January 21, I am joining with One Million Moms for Gun Control to walk in a rally to call attention to the need to create a safer, nonviolent world for children."

Click here to read the full piece.