LeVar_RR_bio.largeTake a look, it’s in a book.

The Verge ran a story today that LeVar Burton has launched a $1 million Kickstarter with the goal of bringing Reading Rainbow to the web, to reach kids across the globe. It’s already available for Android and iPad, but not all kids or schools have access to those devices, or the $60 per year the subscription costs. In addition to putting it on the web, Burton wants to create a version for teachers to use in the classroom, and to set up a not-for-profit organization to make it available for free to low-income schools.

The Verge notes:

Still, it’ll be a harder sell than other Kickstarters, which are effectively used to take preorders on unfinished products. “Unlike the Pebble, I can’t send you a watch,” Burton says. You can get a subscription to the app, but that won’t be valuable to everyone who Burton hopes will support the project. “I’m really asking you to donate to a cause that you may not get a direct benefit from in the immediate sense.”

Get ready to point and laugh, because it turned out it was not exactly as hard a sell as the Verge expected. In fact, it blew by its one million dollar goal, with almost 25,000 backers, in less than twelve hours. Now, with thirty-four and a half days left to run, there’s no telling how much money it’s going to pull in. I hope Burton has some pretty big stretch goals in mind!

Update: The article originally called it less than six hours, but I since learned that was incorrect.

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