In collaboration with Anthony Key, Director, Multicultural Marketing, and the School & Library Marketing teams at the Penguin Young Readers and Random House Children’s publishing divisions, Penguin Random House Education observed
In observation of Juneteenth, Penguin Random House Education donated $10,000 and free books to support the great work of the Black Caucus of NCTE, an advocacy group of Black English language arts educators and scholars. Alongside the Black Caucus of NCTE, we hosted our inaugural commemoration of Juneteenth during the event: “Literacies as Freedom Tickets: Black Caucus Scholars Reflect on the Texts That Set Them Free” on June 16th. We observed Juneteenth as an occasion for reflection and education to celebrate the end of slavery in America and acknowledged the profound contributions of Black people to American history and culture..
Additionally, Penguin Random House Education has created multiple collections of books by Black creators that educate, empower, and inspire students in the classroom year-round for elementary students and secondary students.
We are committed to lifting and holding Black voices throughout the year and were happy to honor them especially on Juneteenth.
In June 2021, we launched All Ways Black, an initiative showcasing and celebrating the many facets of the Black experience.
Debuting on instagram, All Ways Black (@allwaysblack) is a separate and unique channel designed to specifically connect with Black readers every day and carve out space specifically for our Black authors and books. All Ways Black is a key expression of Amplify Black Stories, an ongoing initiative dedicated to promoting the Black authors and books that are moving culture forward.
We partnered with influencer Cree Myles,founding editor of All Ways Black and the creative force behind last winter’s Black Like We Never Left Read-a-Thon that raised more than $10,000 for the Center for Fiction’s Emerging Writer Program, for an authentic voice for the channel. Cree works alongside the Creative Strategy team to develop editorial content and original programming that highlights the depth and breadth of our stories and creators.
We reprised our longstanding partnership with Every Town for Gun Safety in honor of National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 7 and in support of #WearOrange weekend, to help raise awareness and send a powerful message to end gun violence.
As in past years, colleagues were encouraged to show individual support through participation in a Special Unlimited Matching Gift Program the weekend of June 7.
Whether they posted on social media with tags to end gun violence or shared Penguin Random House’s National Gun Violence Awareness Day Book List, colleagues came together to spread the important message that gun violence must end.
We are committed to ensuring the publishing world is accessible to everyone, and celebrate the three recipients of the newly-created Penguin Random House Scholarship chosen by The New York University Center for Publishing. Christina Lopez, Megan McDonald, and Sophie Schmidt were able to participate in this year’s NYU Summer Publishing Institute (SPI) three-week virtual program, beginning June 7, 2021.
The Center for Publishing Penguin Random House Scholarship was established to foster greater diversity in the publishing industry, and enable college juniors and seniors, as well as recent college graduates, who are interested in pursuing a career in publishing to attend NYU’s Summer Publishing Institute program.
To celebrate International Literacy Day, we reunited with our longstanding partner, Worldreader, to help promote literacy and the joy of reading around the world. With every book purchased on our website, we donated $1 to Worldreader, up to $10K.
Worldreader works to champion digital reading, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. This year, International Literacy Day was celebrated under the theme, “Literacy for a human-centered recovery: Narrowing the Digital Divide.” As we saw the way we move in an even more digital direction due to COVID-19, we find it necessary to provide children with digital access to books as the world adapts.
Since 2010, we have donated hundreds of thousands of e-books to Worldreader to help millions of children read around the world. We are committed to advancing literacy, especially in communities where there are not many books available. Together, Penguin Random House and Worldreader help create a world where everyone is a reader.
Together with We Need Diverse Books (WNDB), we launched the Black Creatives Fund in February 2021, an initiative with a mission of supporting emerging and established Black writers and illustrators. Penguin Random House is the inaugural sponsor of the fund for the 2021 year.
The Black Creatives Fund will feature three initiatives in 2021, including a Revisions Workshop, a mentorship program, and a marketing symposia in partnership with the Brown Bookshelf. The Fund will launch with the six-month Revisions Workshop that will support unpublished Black writers with completed manuscripts and feature esteemed faculty including our authors Nic Stone and Jewell Parker Rhodes.
Twelve writers selected for the workshop will have the opportunity to receive guidance throughout the revision process and submit their manuscript to editors at Penguin Random House for possible publication. All 12 writers will be awarded stipends. Two finalists will receive larger grants, and publishing deals for top performers will be strongly considered.
As longtime partners of WNDB, we are honored to collaborate with them to build this important new pipeline for discovering and elevating Black voices. The Black Creatives Fund is an integral piece of Amplify Black Stories, our year-long campaign to celebrate Black authors and introduce their stories to a diverse group of readers. For more information, please visit the Black Creatives Fund program page.
In December 2020, nearly a hundred employee volunteers from PRH US participated in our 9th annual Dinner on the House in partnership with City Harvest, a volunteer experience designed to serve others and share our good fortune with those who may need a helping hand during the holiday season. We’ve previously held this event as an in-person volunteering experience at City Harvest‘s food rescue facility in Long Island City. This year, with in-person volunteering no longer a viable option due to the pandemic, we looked to City Harvest, an organization focused on feeding hungry New Yorkers, to create new, virtual volunteer opportunities for our employees. Employees volunteered in one of two ways:
- Holiday Greeting Cards: City Harvest delivers food to over 400 community food programs serving thousands more New Yorkers a day than before the pandemic. Our volunteers wrote holiday greeting cards to send to City Harvest’s many partners.
- Mini Mesh Bags: During the holiday season, City Harvest Repackers use thousands of mesh bags each day to pack fresh produce that will go into their trucks and be delivered to food pantries and community food programs across the five boroughs. Our volunteers helped make these bags which keeps costs down and ensures more money can be spent on emergency food.
In addition to our employees donating their time, Penguin Random House made a donation to City Harvest as part of the Repack to Give Back campaign, which will provide 200,000 pounds of produce and non-perishable goods to 384,000 families in need this holiday season.
The Penguin Hotline, a resource to help consumers everywhere find the right books for people on their holiday gift lists, launched for the seventh year in a row on December 2, 2020. This year, we are excited to donate $2 to longtime partner We Need Diverse Books for every request received from December 2-16.
The hotline is run by hundreds of PRH U.S. employee volunteers across departments and divisions who craft thoughtful and customized book recommendations. Each year, countless satisfied Hotline users express their appreciation of the “human touch” that strengthens this experience and makes it so special.
We Need Diverse Books is focused on putting more books featuring diverse characters into the hands of all children. The partnership with the Penguin Hotline this year gives both volunteers and consumers another great reason to participate and spread the word.
