I am very happy to announce that Worldreader, a powerhouse nonprofit that spreads literacy in developing countries in order to create a world where everyone is a reader, has donated 458 Kindle Keyboards to the Kindle Classroom Project.
That’s not a typo: 458 is the correct number.
Thank you, Worldreader!
Um, that’s a lot of Kindles. In fact, this donation is the biggest in KCP history, more than double the 2015 gift of 210 Kindles from an anonymous supporter.
Here’s just one box of the massive donation (there are about 100 Kindles here):
And here are the rest of the 458 Kindles, plus hordes of cases and sleeves and chargers, in the back of my Honda Fit.
I’m blown away by the enormity of this donation and by the generosity of Worldreader. It is a transformative gift for the Kindle Classroom Project.
- It increases the number of Kindles in the KCP by 50 percent (from 918 to 1,376),
- It means that an entire new school can join the KCP,
- It pushes my thinking about the next steps of the KCP.
Even more impressive than the massive gift was the kindness of the Worldreader staff throughout the donation process. One day last month on LinkedIn I received a message from Zev Lowe, senior director at Worldreader. Could the KCP use some Kindles? he asked. And would you like to come by to speak to the team? Sure!
It was wonderful to meet the Worldreader staff, get a tour of its San Francisco operations (thank you, Ryan Lew), meet founder David Risher, and answer questions about the KCP. (We opted for an informal Q and A session, rather than a formal presentation, though I did come with some slides — see below!) Everyone was kind, smart, and like-minded. Their commitment to promoting reading among young people in the developing world is unparalleled, and they were impressed with the KCP community of students, teachers and supporters.
Since my visit, I’ve spent a lot of time charging Kindles, getting ready for the Winter Kindle Party (it’s on Jan. 22, want to come? please sign up here!), and staying in touch with Worldreader. Everyone continues to be kind and helpful. For example, content director Danielle Zacarias volunteered her time to share her deep knowledge about publishers and digital book distribution, which was invaluable. Thank you!
I’ll keep you posted on what happens with this colossal donation — how I prep them for students, which teachers and students get them, and what it all means for the KCP. If you have questions, please leave them in the comments. Thank you again, Worldreader!