London Evening Standard forms partnership with NOOK to support Get London Reading initiative
The London Evening Standard has partnered with NOOK Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, to support the newspaper’s literacy campaign – Get London Reading.
NOOK will donate 1,000 of its eReaders to the campaign’s reading helpers trained by campaign partner and national literacy charity, Beanstalk. The volunteers will then use the NOOKs in schools with high levels of illiteracy, helping children who have fallen behind with their reading.
“Reading is a basic human right, without which a person is ill-equipped to function in society, let alone fulfill their potential. Shocking levels of illiteracy in London's primary schools prompted the Evening Standard to act by trying to help children who had fallen behind with their reading and were in danger of never catching up. We are thrilled that NOOK are supporting us - these 1,000 NOOKs that they have gifted to our campaign will help us reach even more children, improving their skills and helping them begin a life-long journey of reading,” commented David Cohen, London Evening Standard’s campaign editor.
Launched in June 2011, the initiative has raised over £1m to fund the training and supply of reading helpers in schools and has helped over 2,000 London children improve their reading skills.
Jim Hilt, MD of Barnes & Noble, said: “Literacy is at the heart of everything we do. Together with the London Evening Standard and Beanstalk, we hope to further enrich the minds of readers of all ages across the UK and give them access to the books they love.”
Beanstalk CEO, Sue Porto, added: “We are most grateful for Barnes & Noble’s support and look forward to seeing the impact the eReaders make in tackling illiteracy. In this digital age, where children have access to technology at ever younger ages, it’s vitally important that we use every possible resource to help engage the children we are working with.”