NEW YORK, NY (2021)
We proudly continue our partnership with the New York Public Library (NYPL). The New York Public Library program closely aligns with our ongoing commitment to support a culture of reading and build the widest audience possible for our authors. Our partnership with the NYPL will ensure that New Yorkers can utilize the vital services provided by their libraries free of charge, including access to books, computers, early literacy workshops, and job training classes. This year, we teamed up with Knopf author Jhumpa Lahiri to encourage readers to participate in the campaign and make a donation to the NYPL. In an email sent out to donors, Jhumpa discussed the role libraries played in broadening her literary world and jumpstarting her writing career: “Wherever I have lived, whatever I have studied or pursued, libraries have always been my true home.”
Throughout the summer, the NYPL has gradually expanded service across all of their open grab-and-go locations in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, where patrons can now browse for books and reserve time to use public computers to browse the Internet and search their catalog. Click here to learn more.
In celebration of Pride Month, we with skincare brand Aesop to transform four of their retail locations in the United States and Canada into Queer Libraries. For a week in June, Aesop stores in New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto cleared the products from their shelves and replaced them with books that uplift the underrepresented voices and experiences of queer communities around the world, with a particular emphasis on BIPOC and trans authors.
Designed to spotlight LGBTQIA+ authors and to promote access to their works, the campaign invited all guests to take home a complimentary book of their choice, with no purchase required. As part of the initiative, Penguin Random House donated 2,350 titles to the collection. In solidarity with independent queer bookstores, Aesop also purchased more than 3,000 volumes from Glad Day Bookshop in Toronto and Women & Children First in Chicago.
U.S. (2021)
In celebration of Juneteenth, we gave 100% of net proceeds on PRH.com on June 19 to the Bookshop.org fund benefitting Black-owned bookstores as we continue our commitment to #AmplifyBlackStories all year long. For the month of June, #AmplifyBlackStories highlighted stories of Black joy, not to disregard the realities of racism and injustice but to engage with the Black experience in America in a way that is full, balanced, and truthful.
U.S. (2021)
In the summer of 2021, we donated nearly 2,000 Spanish language books to REFORMA’s Children In Crisis Project, a program that addresses the needs of asylum-seeking children arriving at the United States border. Among the titles donated included were El cielo, las estrellas y la noche by Jean Pierre Verdet (Altea); 100 genios del balón by Alberto Lati (Plan B); El beso de la traición by Erin Beaty (Alfaguara Juvenil); 15 consejos malvados para ser tu propia superheroína by Vania Bachur (Altea); and Historia en meme by Guillermo Perez Romero (Plan B).
For years, REFORMA has been working to provide Books & Library Connections for Unaccompanied Refugee Children through its Children In Crisis Project. REFORMA: The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking, is an affiliate of the American Library Association, promoting the development of library collections to include Spanish-language and Latino oriented materials; the recruitment of more bilingual and bicultural library professionals and support staff; the development of library services and programs that meet the needs of the Latino community; the establishment of a national information and support network among individuals who share our goals; the education of the U.S. Latino population in regards to the availability and types of library services; and lobbying efforts to preserve existing library resource centers serving the interests of Latinos.
Since 2009, PRH has been a member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) SmartWay Transport Partnership, an innovative collaboration between the EPA and the freight industry designed to increase energy efficiency while significantly reducing greenhouse gases and air pollution.
When carrier capacity fluctuates, the Transportation Department focuses on securing the best resources to move our freight, including utilizing freight carriers who are considered best in class. Volume shifts and capacity constraints during 2021 (the latest EPA data set year) required working with a vast array of carriers which slightly decreased our overall percentage of SmartWay carrier miles, but we maintained our status as a SmartWay Partner.
U.S. (2021)
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.
U.S. (2021)
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.
U.S. (2021)
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.
U.S. (2021)
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.
