U.S. (2024)
Penguin Random House joined forces with Lambda Literary and the NYC Department of Education to facilitate the LGBTQ Writers in Schools program, an initiative bringing LGBTQ+ writers and their works to K-12 classrooms across New York City. The program primarily serves Title 1 schools, which support children from low-income backgrounds, making access to LGBTQ+ literature crucial for LGBTQ+ students and their allies.
FRANKFURT (2024)
Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe was the main sponsor of the first reception of the Queer Media Society at the 2024 Frankfurt Book Fair.
Rebecca Prager, Head of Corporate Communications at Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe, spoke at the reception on behalf of Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe and be.queer, the network for LGBTIQ employees and allies at Bertelsmann, emphasizing the importance of the network for togetherness and mutual support as well as for visibility and awareness in the workplace.
U.S. (2024)
Penguin Random House and First Book joined forces to celebrate teachers throughout the month of May. As part of this initiative, we gave away 10 gift credits worth $500 each to educators for use in the First Book Marketplace, ensuring that students had plenty of reading material to enjoy during the summer break.
Penguin Random House marked the 10th anniversary of our meaningful partnership with Save the Children via a special Giving Tuesday campaign in 2024. Over the past decade, we have worked together to improve the lives of countless children around the world, providing them with the resources and support they need to thrive.
Through December 10, we offered a special matching program for Penguin Random House U.S. employees, matching donations made to Save the Children’s Make Childhood Fair Fund, up to $10,000. This fund supports early education and literacy programs in rural communities throughout the U.S. During the same period, each book purchased through penguinrandomhouse.com resulted in a $1 donation to Save the Children, up to a total of $10,000.
NEW YORK, NY (2024)
Penguin Random House volunteers ran this year’s Botanical Book Bike at Madison Square Park, choosing a children’s book from the bike and reading every half hour from 12pm – 2pm. During non-storytime periods, volunteers helped the Botanical Book Bike Associate (a Madison Square Park Conservancy staff member) answer general questions about the books, lending/borrowing procedure, and other inquiries. For more information about the Botanical Book Bike, click here.
FRANKFURT (2024)
During a reading marking the end of “Freedom of Expression Week” at Mediacampus Frankfurt, the school for aspiring booksellers, Penguin author Hasnain Kazim entertained around 130 guests with his clever approach to the issues of hate mail and hate speech. In a post-reading discussion with Rebecca Prager, Head of Corporate Communications at Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe, Kazim shared his experiences with hateful letters from readers and his perspective on freedom of expression and its limits.
U.S. (2024)
In spring 2024, Read Ahead hosted its first-ever Read-a-Thon! Penguin Random House has been a proud partner of Read Ahead since 1997, supporting their vision of unlocking students’ full potential through mentoring relationships based on a love of reading. To learn more about Read Ahead and this team-based fundraiser, click here.
NEW YORK, NY (2024)
On Thursday, May 30, 20 NYC-based Penguin Random House employees volunteered with the Madison Square Park Conservancy. Volunteers engaged in some light physical activity and got in the weeds—both literally and figuratively—to plant hundreds of blooming plants in the park for visitors to enjoy. To learn more about Madison Square Park Conservancy, click here.
GERMANY (2024)
Together with readers throughout Germany, Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe celebrated Read Aloud Day under the motto “Reading aloud creates a future.” Around 130 employees participated and held more than 230 reading sessions for over 5,000 children in kindergartens and elementary schools nationwide. Readers also brought nearly 2.000 books and audiobooks as gifts for the students. The campaign was supplemented by online video and livestream offerings.
Penguin Random House participated in City Harvest’s Share Lunch Fight Hunger campaign for the 16th year, supporting efforts to address food insecurity in New York City. In addition to fundraising, we hosted a dedicated volunteer repack shift at City Harvest’s Cohen Community Food Rescue Center in Brooklyn, where employees helped prepare food for local distribution.
In a time of great need, with 1 in 4 children facing food insecurity, Penguin Random House is proud to partner with City Harvest to feed NYC kids and their families. Learn more about Share Lunch Fight Hunger here.
