In March 2019, Penguin Classics launched its #HappyReading pop-up shop in Shoreditch in East London, as part of a campaign to celebrate the joy of reading and the special books that impact our lives. We partnered with the National Literacy Trust to run two workshops as part of the pop-up’s weeklong program of events. The workshops gave students an opportunity to discuss reading for pleasure, meet with working role models from Penguin, and develop valuable skills. Over two days, 50 students participated in the workshops, which we helped facilitate with volunteers from across our various divisions and departments. To learn more about the pop-up, click here and here.
Years: 2019
Free Books at Shakespeare in the Park
We have been a longtime supporter of Shakespeare in the Park, one of the cornerstones of the Public Theater’s mission to bring performing arts to New Yorkers. Since 1962, more than 5 million people have experienced more than 150 free productions of Shakespeare’s work and other classical works and musicals. We have supported the Public Theater through monetary donations, as well as by distributing free books to theatergoers waiting in line for tickets. Throughout the years, this has become one of our most popular volunteering opportunities, and many of our bestsellers have been gifted to eager readers. To learn more, click here.
Celebrating World Book Day
In honor of World Book Day, we celebrated with Orange Grove Primary School in Johannesburg as part of our ongoing campaign to assist young readers with access to books. Through discussions with the school’s volunteer librarian, we learned that each class typically lines up outside the library during breaks to borrow a book. We donated more than 600 books, as well as treats for everyone, and we committed to installing new bookshelves in their library. World Book Day, of course, wouldn’t be complete without authors, and we were joined by author/illustrator combo Elaine Macdonald and Vanessa Mearns (I See an Elephant) as well as author Refiloe Moahloli (How Many Ways Can You Say Hello?), who came to read to the students.
$100,000 to Promote Youth Reading
In the lead-up to Puffin’s 80th anniversary in 2020, we awarded $100,000 to 54 bookshops to help nurture young readers in their communities. Bookshops were invited to submit proposals for programs they would like to start in their communities, and the winning bookshops received funding between $500 and $5,000. Standouts included Puffin Poetry workshops in western Australia, a Books for Blokes reading club encouraging dads to read to kids in Queensland, a program helping prison moms read to their kids in New South Wales, prizes for readers in kids’ book clubs, revamped kids’ sections in stores, readers’ hubs for regional schools, street libraries, author visits, and many more. To learn more about the program and our winners, click here and here.
Nelson Mandela International Day
We celebrated Nelson Mandela International Day at Stars of Joy Educare, a nursery in a low- to middle-income suburb of Cape Town. Stars of Joy Educare provides an alternative to parents in need, offering very low application fees and accommodating up to 25 children between the ages of 2 and 5. In addition to volunteering, we donated children’s titles ranging from popular fairy tales to educational titles. Because the event took place in the winter, we also donated 25 new mattresses and thermal blankets. Stars of Joy has a team of unemployed mothers and grandmothers who volunteer their time, and we invited them to join in the celebration, sponsoring a tea-and-cake affair for everyone.
Readathon for International Book Day
To celebrate International Book Day, we hosted a Readathon that challenged people to read or listen to a book and log their minutes. For every 10 minutes of reading, we donated a book to Save the Children, for up to 300,000 minutes—or 30,000 book donations. We encouraged readers to share how they were participating in our Readathon using the hashtag #MaratónDeLectura and to challenge their family and friends to participate as well. To learn more about the campaign, click here.
Partnership with Fighting Words
In November 2016, Penguin Random House Ireland entered into a three-year partnership with Fighting Words, a creative writing organization established by Roddy Doyle and Sean Love in 2009. This built on a wider long-term partnership between Penguin Random House U.K. and Ministry of Stories.
Fighting Words aims to help children and young people, and adults who did not have the opportunity as children, to discover and harness the power of their own imaginations and creative writing skills. Each year of the partnership, they produced an anthology of creative writing, which our editors helped to edit and our Communications team helped to publicize. We also set up author visits to schools in order to mentor students and provide tips and insight to improve their writing.
Reading Corners Donated to Primary Schools
In June 2019, we donated reading corners called “magic book houses” to the impoverished region of Hainan province for students to have access to books and safe spaces to read. In addition, we donated 30 sets of the Magic Tree House series and other books, as well as 20 computers, to more than 300 students at Shuimanxiang Primary School
More Than 200,000 Books for First Book Canada
In our ongoing partnership with First Book Canada, we donated more than 200,000 books in the first half of 2019 to support youth in underserved communities across Canada. At the end of the year, we launched our holiday book-matching campaign that ran from Giving Tuesday to December 31, 2019. For every $4 donation, we donated one book, up to a total of 20,000 books, providing twice as many books to children in need. To learn more about our end-of-year campaign, click here.
Hosting a Literature Day for DAREarts Students
In partnership with First Book Canada, we hosted an inaugural Literature Day for 30 students enrolled in DAREarts, a program that provides leadership development opportunities through arts-based education to children and youth in underserved communities across Canada. The students worked with publishing experts, including designers and editors, learning about the business, contributing to a book cover meeting, and designing their own book covers. They also participated in an interactive talk with illustrator Joe Morse and toured our offices, and each student went home with a selection of books to keep.