NEWS

PRH Education Launches New PRH Education Classroom Libraries

Penguin Random House Education is thrilled to announce the launch of the new and exciting PRH Education Classroom Libraries!

In a year where schools are redefining student academic success, while also addressing crucial issues of social and emotional learning and inclusion, Penguin Random House (PRH) Education is proud to announce its new Classroom Libraries offering for schools.

A unique collaboration with renowned educator and literacy expert Laura Robb—who has over 40 years of teaching experience and has written numerous books on literacy and reading—the libraries draw on the latest research demonstrating that reading and literacy directly impacts students’ personal growth and academic success across the curriculum. Studies also show that having a Classroom Library in the classroom helps to move the needle and increase student motivation, engagement, and ramp up proficiency; crucial challenges for educators today.

Featuring outstanding titles from across PRH’s two core children’s publishing divisions— Random House Children’s Books and Penguin Young Readers— as well as select titles from DK publishing and PRH’s adult divisions, the Classroom Libraries help support the practice of daily independent reading and the engagement and choice it provides through award-winning, contemporary, and diverse books.

The libraries are divided into two different types, Independent Reading and Instructional:

• The PRH Education Independent Reading Libraries are available for grades PreK-8 and include 350 fiction and nonfiction titles drawn from the award-winning, beloved, and groundbreaking books.
• The PRH Education Instructional Libraries are organized by genre and selected to represent the actual range of instructional reading levels found in classrooms. Each library has 100 different books to offer students choices, important for engagement, and so teachers offer students books they can learn from and read.

Laura Robb says, “I want students to ‘read the world’ and have opportunities to select culturally diverse books that are relevant to their varied lives and interests. By self-selecting books from these classroom libraries, we invite students to not only build their reading skill and expertise but use their imagination to visualize, comprehend, make connections, and love reading.”

“With the use of the PRH Education Classroom Libraries, schools and districts can connect students with the very best texts that Penguin Random House has to offer,” notes Colin Reublinger, Manager, Education Sales & Marketing, Penguin Random House, “The libraries promote a reading culture in and out of the classroom and are ultimately supporting equity by giving all students an opportunity to see themselves and others in the stories they read.”

Each PRH Education Classroom Library includes a comprehensive Educator Handbook written by Laura Robb. The Handbooks provide educators with thoughtful and practical ways to make reading a students’ passport to entering and actively participating in a global society with the empathy, compassion, and knowledge it takes to become the problem solvers the world needs. Watch this overview to learn more:

Classroom Libraries have already begun to make an impact in schools, here is a testimonial from the Auburn (ME) School Department:

“It is Penguin Random House’s mission to foster a universal passion for reading by publishing stories that inform, entertain, and inspire students everywhere,” says Michael Gentile, VP Education Sales & Marketing, Penguin Random House, “Our new Classroom Libraries, developed by the incomparable Laura Robb, helps support students, teachers, and schools by providing the most timely, engaging, and diverse voices that harness the power of literacy.”

A special thank you goes out to all of the colleagues across many departments that helped make this possible, including the school & library departments at both children’s divisions, the education team at DK, the strategic projects team, title managers, inventory managers, Sales, and the team at Crawfordsville.

The libraries are available for ordering directly through PRH, educational distributors, and booksellers. Please feel free to share with friends, family, and educators in your community.

You can find additional information on PRH Education Classroom Libraries here.