“Inspiring a culture of reading in communities is central to who we are and what we do as Penguin Random House,” said Claire von Schilling, EVP, Director, Corporate Communications, Penguin Random House. “This special initiative on the Grand Central Reads mobile platform is a wonderful opportunity for us to come together with Save the Children and our home-town New Yorkers to give back and make a positive difference in the lives of others through books.” “Save the Children is committed to ensuring every last child gets the opportunity to learn,” said Carolyn Miles, President & CEO, Save the Children. “We know the significant impact reading can have on a child’s life, and are grateful for Penguin Random House’s support and the Grand Central Reads partnership in helping us give more children the best chance for success.” Grand Central Reads features a platform created by Penguin Random House that offers users free access to extensive excerpts from a wide range of its book content, including thrillers, nonfiction, classics and cookbooks, via free wi-fi, inside Grand Central Terminal, on terminal platforms, and in the Park Avenue Tunnel. The program highlights the works of New York authors and stories featuring the Big Apple, Grand Central Terminal, and eventful train rides. Among the featured titles are:

• A PLACE FOR US by Fatima Farheen Mirza
• BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson
• JACK REACHER: GONE TOMORROW by Lee Child
• TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN by John Green
• SAVING CENTRAL PARK by Elizabeth Barlow Rogers

  For more information about the GCR program, please visit grandcentralreads.com.

 From January 13 to January 20, Kendra and Marysarah met with local publishers and offered first-hand insights into editorial, design and production processes. They also engaged directly with Rwandan young readers, writers and community members.  

[caption id="attachment_9041" align="alignright" width="178"] Marysarah Quinn (SVP, Director of Creative Design, Crown)[/caption] “The Mureke Dusome  (meaning Let’s Read) team is incredibly excited for the Penguin Random House corporate volunteers’ visit this January,” said Heidi Schubert, Basic Education Specialist for Save the Children’s International Programs. Marysarah said, “I grew up in the various imprints of Penguin Random House—working here my entire adult life. I have always felt incredibly proud and lucky to work with the very best in the industry. It is an incredible honor to have the opportunity to share what I have learned with our partners abroad. I am truly humbled to have been chosen and so excited about this project!” [caption id="attachment_9042" align="alignleft" width="254"] Kendra Levin (Associate Editorial Director, Viking Books for Young Readers)[/caption] Kendra commented, “I’m honored to represent Penguin Random House and forge these relationships with publishers in Kigali. Penguin Random House is such a global company and every time I’ve had the chance to connect with publishing colleagues abroad, it’s created a rich exchange of information and ideas. I’m thrilled that Penguin Random House has found a way to blend a meeting of the minds with its mission of corporate social responsibility.” Save the Children has been working with the local publishing industry in Rwanda for the last five years, helping it to grow from four small publishing houses to over 10.  Each of them now has books approved by the Rwanda Ministry of Education for use in public schools.  This Mureke Dusome project is USAID-funded and being implemented by Save the Children and its partner organizations. Kendra and Marysarah will provide local Rwandan publishers with key insights about what it means to be a professional publisher and how to balance the various elements involved in producing high quality children’s books – from editing the story to the illustrations and design process.  The sustainable, ongoing production of these high quality Kinyarwanda [the official language of Rwanda] storybooks will help to further inspire a love of reading among Rwandan primary school children.

1.     #GiveABook and Change a Life This holiday season, Penguin Random House is giving you up to 5 books to donate to your community through our fourth annual #GiveaBook holiday campaign. With your help, we have donated more than 185,000 books to children in need across the country through #Giveabook since its inception in 2014. This year, we’re donating an additional 50,000 books to children nationwide through First Book. Click here to  decide where up to 5 of these 50,000 books go by choosing which state to support. Help those closest to you by selecting your home state, or help support disaster relief efforts by choosing a state with impacted communities.   2.     Help Humans Heal with Good Dog Therapy Program The Good Dog Foundation trains, certifies, and fields therapy dog teams to ease human suffering and promote recovery from trauma and stress. Alongside helping people who suffer from health and mental issues, Good Dig teams visit schools and libraries to conducts anti-bullying workshops, work with children who are living with autism, and to assist children who are learning how to read. Earlier this year, Good Dog visited Penguin Random House with its therapy teams and was their chosen beneficiary of this year’s Global Walk. Donate to their campaign to help them reach their goal of $25,000 to train more therapy teams and help more people than ever before.   3.     Help Young Readers Get Ahead with Read Ahead Read Ahead ignites a love of reading in young students in New York City through mentoring, improving their confidence as well as their odds for success in school and life. Help nourish a passion for reading early in life and spread the joy of mentoring this holiday season by by making a one-time or recurring contribution by clicking here. 4.     Buy One, Give One with Penguin Random House and Zulily Penguin Random House is helping zulily kick off National Family Literacy Month this November with its first-ever interactive book fair, running now through December 10. Six sales events will feature a curated selection of children’s books, and each book purchased will trigger a donation from Penguin Random House to First Book. First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides new books and other essentials to children in need, is aiding teachers, students and schools affected by the recent hurricanes. Look for the “Buy One, Give One” badge highlighted on the website and on featured books found in select events.   5.     Give a Gift of Joy with Save the Children Donate to Save the Children on #GivingTuesday, November 28, 2017, and your contribution will be doubled. Browse their Gifts of Joy Catalog to find your perfect #GivingTuesday gift. Choose to educate a girl for just $75 and you’ll give the gift of books, resources, and access to an education. For less than 20 cents a day, you can change a girl’s life forever.   6.     Help to Defend Freedom of Expression with PEN America PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the US and worldwide. Support PEN America and their efforts to champion the freedom to write and to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Join Penguin Random House in supporting PEN America and become a member today.

  7.     Support the Literary Community with Poets and Writers Poets and Writers is the nation’s largest nonprofit organization serving creative writers. By subscribing to the Poets and Writers magazine and becoming a member at any level, you can help the non-profit with their mission to foster the professional development of poets and writers, promote communication throughout the literary community, and help create an environment in which the widest possible public can appreciate literature.

8.     Support UJA and Help People in need. Contribute to the UJA Federation of New York today and your support will have a global effect. Each year, UJA's work touches 4.5 million people in more than 70 countries through a network of more than 100 charitable organizations. Donate today and visit their new volunteer website, www.timeforgood.org,  to find meaningful volunteer projects around New York City in the five boroughs, Westchester and LI.

9.     Put Girls First and Donate to the Malala Fund Join Malala Yousafzai’s #YesAllGirls movement and make a donation to support education programs for girls around the world. In her words, “One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world.” Help make it happen.

10.     Support Jumpstart and Make a Difference Because every child deserves a jump start, donate now and your gift will support Jumpstart’s early education program, providing children who are at risk of failing school with the support they need to be successful in preschool and ready for life.  

Here are some of the programs we proudly support. Promoting Early Childhood Education through Balwadis: Its mission is to provide early childhood care and education for all round development, including physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and language development, and to build a habit of attending school among children. We are supporting one Balwadi, reaching out to 30 children (ages 3-5 years) and their parents. We are sponsoring their education aids, mid meals, and infrastructure requirements to run the education center. In addition, we also helped create a library by donating our books meant for early learning. Enabling Women to better their Lives through Functional Literacy: This program aims to provide functional literacy to the women and girls of Sarai Kale Khan Village, who have never been to school, or have dropped out of school. The 4-month curriculum adopts an Activity-based methodology, which equips an adult learner to read, write, and understand Hindi language and basic Arithmetic. The program provides them with a platform through various activities for enhancing self-confidence, communication, and developing a positive outlook. We will support one such program that covers 45 women for a period for 4 months. In addition, we are also looking at providing infrastructural support to their existing center by donating office equipment and furniture.