When StoryWeaver was launched on International Literacy Day in 2015, we weren’t sure what new and exciting paths our digital journey would take us down. What we did know, was that technology and open licensing would help us take more stories to more children in more languages.

Over the past two years we have hit many milestones with you by our side: new and exciting stories in various formats, stories in over 100 languages and now, we’re about to hit another big one: one million reads on the platform!

Join the #RacetoAMillionReads

 

As we race towards our millionth online read on StoryWeaver, we’d love to have you join us in the winning lap! Starting today, we’ll be sharing stories on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram with the #RacetoAMillionReads.You can be a part of #RaceToAMillionReads on social media in a variety of ways.

1. Share these stories with a child or children you know, and then pass the story on to friends who you think will enjoy it.

2. Is there a story you especially love on StoryWeaver? Share it with family and friends and tag us @pbstoryweaver and use #RaceToAMillionReads

3. If you’ve recently created, translated on relevelled a story on StoryWeaver then share that too so that more people can enjoy it. Who knows, someone else might love your story and translate it to a language they’re familiar in!

4. Record an audio or video clip of you reading a book from StoryWeaver of your own story or a story you love and share it with us!

A big thank you for the tremendous role you’ve played in StoryWeaver’s journey! Here’s to the next million!

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Written by Shaoni Dasgupta, Assistant Editor at StoryWeaver

 

We are thrilled and proud to reach 20,000 storybooks on the StoryWeaver platform! When StoryWeaver was launched in September 2015 with 800 storybooks in 24 languages, we couldn't have predicted the tremendous reception the platform has received over the last five years - not just in India, but around the world.

Illustration by Sandhya Prabhat, for Today I Am written by Varsha Seshan, published by Pratham Books

We are extremely thankful to our amazing community, for helping us get to where we are today. It is your unwavering faith in our motto, and your help with strengthening our foundation through your stories and translations that has helped us achieve this milestone. Without your support and goodwill, we wouldn't be where we are! We are so excited to do what we do because of you and our brilliant pool of publisher and translator partners. Here's a shoutout to all of you for being amazing! You have joined hands to hold the base of the platform to make it what it is, and we couldn't be more thankful. 

Today, with 20,000 storybooks in 235 languages, StoryWeaver is truly a global repository of multilingual content. More than 1.5 billion children around the world are at home due to school closures, in an effort to control the COVID-19 outbreak. It’s a difficult time for everyone and the need for reading materials for children that can be accessed at home, is more urgent than ever. During this difficult time we hope you can Read At Home with StoryWeaver and continue to partner with us to bring joyful content to children the world over. 

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We are thrilled to announce that Pratham Books has won the prestigious 2020 Library of Congress Literacy Award, recognizing our responsiveness to the unique needs faced by children during the current unprecedented times, and our efforts over the past few months to spread the joy of reading to children everywhere through the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Literacy Awards, originated by David M. Rubenstein in 2013, honor organizations doing exemplary, innovative and replicable work. Collectively, all of these awards spotlight the great efforts underway to promote literacy and respond to the needs of our time. We are honoured to be one of five global winners this year, and the only organization from India to win the award.

As schools around the world closed indefinitely, and demand surged during the pandemic for digital learning resources, it became increasingly important to find new and innovative ways to keep children engaged and curious. Pratham Books created programs that could be used in low-resource environments, including launching the StoryWeaver Learn at Home programme in Hindi and English, adding to the repository of thematic reading lists and audio-visual books in multiple languages on StoryWeaver, and a phone-based dial-a-story programme called Missed Call Do, Kahaani Suno! that allowed a child to locate a story in a chosen language by dialing a toll-free number.

In addition, in just four months, translators on StoryWeaver translated 3,000 books into 28 new languages, including books about the coronavirus, health and hygiene and social and emotional issues. UNESCO and the World Bank have listed StoryWeaver as a resource for the homebound child during the pandemic.

We are grateful to our wonderful network for helping us share the joy of reading during these challenging times, and to the Library of Congress for this recognition.

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