About Us - Frequent Questions - General Information

What is your mission?

Room to Read partners with local communities throughout the developing world to establish schools, libraries, and other educational infrastructure. We seek to intervene early in the lives of children in the belief that education is a lifelong gift that empowers people to ultimately improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries, and future generations. Through the opportunities that only an education can provide, we strive to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time.

How can I learn more about Room to Read?

Our website is the most comprehensive source of information about Room to Read. There you can find a wealth of information on our programs and the countries in which we operate. You can also watch a variety of multimedia stories describing the work we do and view recent press coverage.

If you'd like to receive updates on our work, stories from the field, information regarding events in your area, and other interesting information about Room to Read, please sign up for our quarterly email newsletter.

If you prefer to receive information about Room to Read via traditional mail, you can request a press packet that contains recent media pieces on Room to Read, a copy of our most recent annual report, a DVD overview of the organization, and information regarding our board and management. To request an information packet, please email info@roomtoread.org.

When and where did Room to Read start?

In 1998, Room to Read's founder, John Wood, was on a three-week trek around the Annapurna Circuit, a popular hiking route in Nepal. While trekking, he met a teacher who invited him to visit the local school. John was amazed at how warm and welcoming the students and teachers were, but he was saddened by the lack of resources. The school had over 200 children, yet the "library" had only 30 books. Even worse, those books were locked in a cabinet, because books were considered a "scarce resource." The teachers asked him to help change the situation. The headmaster said: "All the children want to learn English so that they can interact with trekkers, and maybe study overseas some day. Yet we are poor, we have no money, we can not even afford pencils, let alone books. Maybe you can help us."

John vowed to help and returned one year later with 3,000 books, and the idea for Room to Read was born. For more information on John's transformation from a Microsoft executive to the Founder and CEO of Room to Read, you can read his book, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World.

Room to Read became an official 501(c)(3) charity in 2000. We subsequently expanded into Vietnam, and then into Cambodia and India. In 2005, we began working in Sri Lanka and Laos, and in 2006 we expanded into Africa, with South Africa as our first country of operation.

Is Room to Read affiliated with a religious or government organization?

Room to Read is a non-governmental organization and is completely non-denominational.

Why should I support this organization when there are people in need in my own country?

We certainly think that every individual should support their own country. However, we feel that it is equally important to help others in the developing world. In particular, many of our donors come from some of the richest countries in the world, and their money can go much further in the countries in which we work. This world really is a small place, and providing a helping hand to those in need has no national borders.

Because we work in very poor countries in the developing world, we are able to have a great deal of impact with a relatively small amount of money. For example, we can fund a year of education for a girl - including tuition, uniforms, shoes, books, medical immunizations, transportation, tutoring, and more - for only US$250. We can create and print new children's books for approximately US$1 per book. One person (or a small group) can have a lasting impact on an entire village with one investment. We would not be able to leverage our donor resources nearly as effectively if we worked domestically.

How do I stay updated on the work Room to Read is doing?

A lot happens at Room to Read. The best way to keep abreast of our progress, geographic expansion, Room to Read in the press, and events in your area is to sign up for our quarterly email newsletter. We don't spam or beg for money, nor do we sell your information to outside parties. We simply like to keep you up to date on everything that is going on and occasionally email invitations to Room to Read events in your area.

Another way to stay updated is to visit our website frequently. We are continually adding new information, spotlight stories, and other content that we think will interest you. Our goal is for you to learn something new about us every time you visit.

How can my school partner with you to help promote your work?

We have a fantastic Students Helping Students (SHS) initiative, designed to foster global awareness and social entrepreneurship in the hearts and minds of students around the world. We formalized this initiative in 2006 after the amazing efforts of over 200 schools that proactively raised over US$400,000 in response to our entry into Sri Lanka in 2005.

Since then, schools have formed Room to Read clubs, held read-a-thons, published books, conducted auctions, and held bake sales to raise money for a variety of our programs. Through these various activities, students have demonstrated creativity, compassion, diligence, and commitment to get involved. With Students Helping Students, they get to see the impact they are having - a very real, very measurable impact on education in the developing world.

Our Students Helping Students website contains a wealth of information for students, parents, and teachers, including creative ways to get involved, updated results on our SHS work in Sri Lanka and Nepal, and lesson plans on social entrepreneurship and cultural awareness.

For more information please visit the Students Helping Students website or email shs@roomtoread.org.

How can I get my company involved?

There are multiple ways in which to engage your company in the work of Room to Read. The following are a few suggestions:

  1. Get Room to Read added to your company's list of approved non-profit organizations. This enables employees to select Room to Read as the designate for their charitable giving, and to receive matching corporate donations.
  2. If your company has a corporate foundation, suggest Room to Read for corporate funding or connect our staff with the right people within the foundation department. We are always looking to expand and diversify our funding base, and we would welcome introductions to any corporate foundation that is interested in supporting educational projects in the developing world.
  3. Hold a Used Book Drive. Working with our partner, Better World Books, you can run a book drive in your offices to benefit Room to Read. Your company can collect used books that will then be sold by Better World with all profits (after their expenses) coming to Room to Read. Better World handles all the logistics of receiving and sorting, tracking, and selling the books - all you and your company have to do is collect them! For more information please visit their website at www.betterworldbooks.com and mention Room to Read. You can also contact them directly by emailing info@betterworldbooks.com.
  4. Start a corporate fundraiser. Many individuals working in both small and large corporations have decided to launch fundraising campaigns within their corporations to support one of Room to Read's projects (for instance, a school in Nepal, or a Computer Lab in India). These campaigns can center around holiday parties or perhaps a summer outing. Once the fundraising goal is reached, everyone who participated gets the satisfaction of seeing the final Room to Read report on the given project. Each report comes complete with photos of the children directly impacted by the new school or computer lab.

These are some of the more popular ways in which people choose to get their companies involved with Room to Read. If you have another idea, please let us know! Send an email to donate@roomtoread.org if you need additional information or have an idea on how you want to get your workplace involved with Room to Read.

Can I visit Room to Read's projects?

Yes! One of the best ways to see the impact that Room to Read is having on the lives of children in the developing world is to visit our projects. In each country, we have set aside one day per quarter to host site visits for our donors, volunteers, and other people who are interested in our work. Our site visits are usually a few hours in length and can include a visit to a school, language lab, or computer lab, or a chance to meet one or more of our scholarship girls. Please see our Site Visits page for a list of site visit dates.

If you would like to join us for a site visit, please complete the Site Visit Application and email it to travel@roomtoread.org. Please send the completed form at least 2 weeks in advance of the site visit date. Space is limited and participation is based on a first come, first served basis. We will follow up on your request as soon as possible.

Please note that we no longer run annual Treks for Literacy that are open to the public, as we have found that our site visits are much more manageable and relevant to our donors and interested parties.

Can I volunteer or teach in a country in which you work?

Room to Read does not offer overseas volunteer opportunities. Our model is one of empowering the local people to work to create change. As much as we respect organizations like Habitat for Humanity, we do not rely on the model of people from outside the community coming in to help with the work. For instance, we ask the village residents to help build the schools, we rely on teachers who grew up in the countries where we work, and we hire local staff to implement our work in a given country.

We do have many volunteer fundraisers around the world in places such as Hong Kong, London and Singapore. If you are interested in fundraising for Room to Read and you do not live in the United States, please complete a volunteer application and send it to volunteer@roomtoread.org.

If you are interested in volunteering overseas, here are some websites that might be of interest:
Idealist: www.idealist.org
Escape Artist: www.escapeartist.com
Himalayan Explorers Club: www.hec.org