Commitments: Free Expression & Joy of Reading

In an effort to support America’s restaurant industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, we published Family Meal: Recipes from Our Community, a digital-only cookbook benefiting America’s restaurant workers. All proceeds from Family Meal support the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund. It is one humble attempt to do our part to support the places and people that make our cities special.

The book’s publication coincided with #GivingTuesdayNow, which took place for the first time on May 5 as an emergency response to the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19. This global day of unity inspired us to join forces to support those in need during this global crisis. So we united the best way we know how—by bringing together authors from across Penguin Random House to serve up something truly special. Our family of more than 50 chefs and home cooks have opened their kitchens to share a look at the food they’re cooking at home right now—food that comforts, sustains, and helps them feel connected to the world outside.

Together with Brightly, our website dedicated to helping parents, caregivers, and educators find books and reading tips for every age and stage of a child’s life, we joined with our long-standing partner Save the Children to support its annual reading campaign—Read a Story, Change Their Story. The 100 Days of Reading campaign aims to combat the summer slide—which will be further exacerbated because of the unprecedented school closures due to COVID-19—and the content that Brightly has provided, including reading lists and educational activities, will greatly support kids and families in need.

For the fifth year, we supported Make Summer Fair, Save the Children’s Summer Reading Campaign. The campaign was created to foster continuous learning over the summer months and to ensure that children in rural America, many of whom have limited access to books, have the opportunity to keep reading. To further increase our impact, we teamed up with Zulily, the online retailer, to help provide books to children in need across the nation with a  “Buy 1, Give 1” campaign.

Our two children’s divisions, Penguin Young Readers and Random House Children’s Books, in partnership with Meredith Corporation’s Parents, launched READ TOGETHER, BE TOGETHER (#ReadTogetherBeTogether), a nationwide initiative that celebrates the importance and power of reading with young children. Originally slated to launch in summer 2020 with nationwide retail, educator, and consumer activations, the program began in March, in light of COVID-19, with a series of daily virtual storytimes with bestselling and award-winning authors and illustrators, as well as celebrity readers.

As part of READ TOGETHER, BE TOGETHER, we are donating 750,000 books to First Book. To meet the urgent need expressed by educators coping with school closures, the donated books will be sent to programs and schools that are currently delivering books, food, and supplies to our youngest citizens who are isolated and locked out of a learning environment. In addition to the book donation, we are also covering the cost of shipping the books to First Book, valued at $25,000.