More than 617 million children and youth are not reaching minimum proficiency in reading. Children cannot learn if they cannot read, and they cannot read if they do not have books at the right levels and in the right languages. All children deserve the opportunity to gain the skills they need—including reading—to positively shape their families, communities, and societies. Despite their importance, books are absent, in short supply, or otherwise inaccessible for millions of children—we call this the book gap.
Ensuring all children can read by 2030 will require a commitment by the international community to transform and strengthen the entire book chain, including forecasting and planning, title development, publishing and printing, procurement and purchasing, distribution management, and active use.
The GBA invites the global community to share Books for Every Child: A Global Pledge, and commit to promoting the crucial role of books in literacy development.
“We know that for children to learn to read with comprehension, they need access to high-quality books in languages they use and understand. On International Literacy Day, and with ongoing efforts to transform education and address learning loss, the Global Book Alliance invites our global community, to recommit to the goal of ensuring books for every child,” said the GBA Deputy Chair Scott Walter.
Books for Every Child: A Global Pledge
My organization pledges to become a partner of the Global Book Alliance.
We pledge to support the GBA’s vision for a world in which all children achieve literacy and have access to quality books in a language that they understand.
We pledge to uphold the GBA’s mission and work to transform the lives of millions of children by working with partners to identify, promote, and support innovations, best practices, and policies that will change the way books are created, procured, and provided.
We pledge to uphold the GBA’s objectives, to the best of our ability, through our policies, programs, activities, and practices.
We pledge to increase and improve our own efforts to ensure all children have books they need to learn how to read.
Together, we can achieve a world in which all children have access to quality books that they can use to learn to read, read to learn, and develop a love of reading.