In the years to come, as we think back to the commodities we have needed during COVID-19, necessities like face masks and hand sanitizer will come to mind. But alongside health requirements, panelists at the Global Book Alliance’s recent International Literacy Day webinar focused on the ‘Business of Books’ believe books should be viewed as an essential commodity, a commodity that can support and energize children to thrive in times of crisis and calm. In fact, the global pandemic has highlighted access to books (print and digital, at school, and at home) as an effective tool to support children’s learning as they strive to move forward. Just like other essential commodities, books demand a market-based approach to ensure they are developed to answer the needs of their readers and land safely in their hands. In any book supply chain around the world, there is a role for the private sector to support, mentor, and lead innovations that result in quality books.
Through their new private sector engagement strategy, USAID has explicitly stated their plan to collaborate and coordinate with local, regional, and international stakeholders to increase efficiencies, reduce duplication, and leverage investments. USAID works with partner country governments and community organizations and suggests private enterprise ‘is the single most powerful force for lifting lives, strengthening communities, and accelerating self-reliance’. By consulting, strategizing, aligning, collaborating, and then implementing with the private sector, USAID can achieve more scale, sustainability and effectiveness. GBA is supported by USAID to conduct analyses of book supply chains in countries where they work to ensure tailored solutions to local book gaps. To date, the Global Book Alliance has collaborated with USAID Missions in Malawi, Cambodia, Zambia, and Jordan (with four more to follow) to generate evidence that allows stakeholders to implement new solutions, mentor printers and publishers, and engender strong book supply chains globally.
As the industry federation representing all aspects of book publishing, the International Publishing Association (IPA) is working to put the issue of literacy back on the agenda of publishing companies, especially in developing markets where many of the readers of the future reside. IPA formed a joint initiative called Read The World with WHO and UNESCO to work with children and young people to expand their interest in books and reading. With APNET (African Publishers Network) and GBA Steering Committee member Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), the IPA also supports the development of a more robust publishing industry on the continent. Recent seminars held in Lagos and Nairobi focused on strengthening the region’s publishing ecosystem. Sessions on indigenous languages and educational publishing highlight the association’s commitment to ensuring more multicultural and diverse content while promoting literacy in Africa through strong private sector engagement.
Google, a partner of GBA’s flagship project the Global Digital Library, is furthering work that uses technology to promote literacy through the development of the Read-Along App - a friendly in-app support system named Diya encourages learners to read along with one of more than 500 books available in nine different languages. Diya listens as the learner reads aloud, offers assistance when they struggle, and rewards when they do well. The app runs both on and offline and provides a secure mechanism for children to engage without advertisements. Monitoring results show that through this game-like experience, young minds can gain confidence in reading out loud and their parents, teachers, and communities can support their learning, even if they are not literate themselves. The app also encourages a love of reading and supports literacy gains. For young readers and story lovers, Google ran the Storyathon2020 competition throughout the month of September encouraging young learners to write their own stories for potential publishing on digital library sites.
These young learners are also the key consumers for eKitabu, a social enterprise of Kenyan, Rwandan, and American origin, that develops open source software that lowers costs and widens access to inclusive and quality instruction. eKitabu is a recent winner of “Begin with Books”, an All Children Reading: Grand Challenge supported by the GBA to create thousands of new books in languages children use and understand. For the eKitabu team, books are an essential product that must reach the hands of all children regardless of their abilities or needs. eKitabu uses digital technology to ensure ease of access for their readers, as well as promote sustainability within the book marketplace. They accomplish this through close work with local authors and publishers, harnessing their knowledge and insights, and developing local language titles. Their Studio KSL initiative ensures that these titles are available in local sign languages, ensuring both deaf and hearing children can finally enjoy the same books.
A business-focused approach lies at the heart of this work, whether as an investor into the private sector, an association of publishers, a tech company, or a social enterprise. As Bodour Al-Qasimi, Vice President of the International Publishers Association, stated in her closing remarks, “Literacy is at the core of the dreams and aspirations of children, families, and nations and offers a path out of poverty…the more people who read for pleasure, the better off our countries and world will be.” This powerful sentiment is fully endorsed by the Global Book Alliance as they work to achieve the vision of a world in which all children achieve literacy and have access to quality books in a language they understand.