We posted about WorldReader twice so far this year. Today, some exciting news from WorldReader will make for post number three.
First, in April we linked to news about the WorldReader program sending Kindles (with the help of Amazon) to test the e-reader in four African nations and see if it can help boost literacy. Testing in Ghana, Rwanda, and Kenya.
Second, at the beginning of this month (October 2010), we linked to several articles about WorldReader announcing plans to digitize books by African authors and sell them via Amazon.com. More than 10 titles are already on sale.
Today, news that Random House has donated “thousands of books for the iREAD pilot that’s set to begin in November.
[Titles include] such classic works as Peter Pan, The Secret Garden, and Moby-Dick, all professionally formatted for e-readers. The donation also includes the entire Magic Tree House collection by Mary Pope Osborne, which was a real favorite among children in our earlier trial in Ayenyah, Ghana, and a fantastic way to get kids excited about reading. All of these books will be available to more than 350 children participating in the iREAD pilot beginning in November.
More about the long term WorldReader/Random House partnership in this blog post. You can access a complete list of books Random House donating to the program here. (3 pages; PDF)
