A Portfolio for Global Literacy

In 2011, when Sirisha was in third grade, Room to Read established a library at her school in Andhra Pradesh, India. She had been struggling with her reading skills, barely able to read a few words, but when the library's doors opened, Sirisha was captivated by the visual appeal of the environment and her love of books was instantly born.

Two years later, Sirisha makes sure she leaves home early each morning so that she has extra time to read a few stories in the library before class begins. With support from the school's head teacher, Sirisha is now an avid and skilled reader. Sirisha's parents, who are illiterate, are proud of their daughter's academic progress and enjoy listening to her read the stories she's borrowed from the library. "The library is my best friend--I love spending time with all those books," Sirisha says. One of Room to Read's published children's titles, A Day in the Market, has special significance for Sirisha as it reminds her of the shopping trips she takes with her mother to buy vegetables. "The day I could read it without faltering, I took the book home and read it aloud to her," she says proudly.

At Room to Read, we believe that World Change Starts with Educated Children and we have committed to focusing on two key areas where we can have the greatest impact: Literacy and Girls' Education. Since our founding in 2000, with the support of inspired investors, we have impacted nearly eight million children across Asia and Africa through our network of libraries and schools, local language children's books, teacher training and reading and writing instruction curriculums. To ensure our programs are successful and sustainable, we partner with communities and governments in our ten countries of operation.

Of the 774 million illiterate people in the world today, a staggering two-thirds are female. We continuously work to encourage awareness and action to turn the tide on illiteracy. Educating women and girls is widely acknowledged as a powerful and effective way to address global poverty--one extra year of education for a girl can earn her 20 percent more as an adult. In fact, the World Bank has stated that educating girls yields the highest rate of return than any other investment in the developing world. We agree. Our Girls' Education program supports girls to not only graduate secondary school, but develop the necessary skills--such as critical thinking, self-confidence and financial planning-- to make key life decisions.

We have all seen how the power of one voice calling for change, when multiplied across communities and geographies can swell into an indelible force that demands the world's attention. Room to Read is committed to amplifying the call for global literacy and gender equality and we are proud to be one of the beneficiaries in Citi Velocity's e for Education campaign. With the support of Citi Velocity traders, Room to Read can reach 10 million children by 2015, making their futures better and brighter and equipping the world with the next generation of leaders.