Room to Read conducts ‘Read Books. Dream Big’ campaign for second year

Teacher's session

To celebrate International Literacy Day which was on 8 September, Room to Read Sri Lanka is conducting the ‘Read Books. Dream Big’ campaign for a second year. 

The campaign was first launched in 2022 in various parts of the country. This year, Room to Read is carrying out the campaign in Western, Central and North-Central Provinces of Sri Lanka. 

The main objective of this campaign is to help children beyond the organisation’s dedicated program instil a habit of reading. It primarily includes a series of read-aloud sessions for students in non-Room to Read schools and includes books published by Room to Read in local languages in the reading sessions. Room to Read will deliver the campaign from August to end of September. 

The organisation will also educate Government teachers on effective library management and how to help children develop a continued interest in reading as practiced in its regular Literacy Program, support parents understand the importance of helping children instil a habit of reading from an early age and how to conduct effective reading exercises for children at home. 

Room to Read is a global nonprofit organisation that helps to transform the lives of millions of children around the world through literacy and gender equality. It envisions a world in which all children can pursue a quality education that prepares them to lead fulfilled lives, making positive change in their families, communities and the world. The organisation achieves this goal by working together with Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Education, partner organisations, parents and communities to deliver positive outcomes for children at scale.

Room to Read first launched its Literacy Program in Sri Lanka in 2005, one year earlier than planned in response to the devastating 2004 tsunami. There onwards, they expanded the program to facilitate children in seven of the country’s nine provinces. Since then, it has seen significant success in expanding the accessibility of quality education, to more than a million children and youth across the country. Room to Read’s innovative Literacy program ensures that primary schools had libraries filled with books in children’s local languages, and teachers and librarians trained on how to engage a classroom of eager, young learners.

Furthermore, to address a gap of not having sufficient children’s books in developing countries such as Sri Lanka, Room to Read published children’s books in local languages, involving local writers and illustrators to help children learn their mother tongue faster with culturally relevant stories, inculcating a lifelong habit of reading among primary grade children and fostering a local publishing industry. This year too, Room to Read Sri Lanka will publish titles in both Sinhala and Tamil to help children in its program have access to quality children’s story books and pursue holistic education. 

Parent's session

Speaking about the campaign in its second year, Room to Read Sri Lanka Country Director Shevanthi Jayasuriya said, “It’s great to see this campaign progressing in its second year. The foundation of this campaign has always to reach out to more children beyond our program schools, conduct read-aloud sessions using our books and help them instil a habit of reading. It is also heartwarming to see the support we receive from teachers and parents to conduct this campaign. Hopefully, we can make this more nationwide next year to reach out to more children and help them develop a lifelong interest in reading.”

So far, the campaign has reached out to more than 2,000 students, 65 Government teachers and 540 parents across provinces. In Colombo, Room to Read partners with the Colombo Public Library to conduct read-aloud sessions during August and September.

Speaking further about the campaign, one of Room to Read’s Senior Reading Development Officers, Harsha Wijerathna said, “I am always thrilled to host this campaign. Mainly, because we get to conduct our regular lessons to children beyond our program. When I read our books to these children, I get to see the joy in their eyes and their excitement to hear a new story! I always get fascinated with how quickly they fall in love with reading. And that stands true to our purpose of conducting the campaign, aligning with International Literacy Day.”

Globally, Room to Read transforms the lives of over 39 million children across continents through its programs, over 4,400 titles produced in local languages to help beginner readers have access to quality children’s books and 277,000 teachers and librarians trained to help primary grade children learn to read and write with comprehension and instil a habit of reading. Room to Read is breaking the cycle of childhood illiteracy and poverty in a single generation. 

Now, you could also access their digital library via Literacy Cloud and celebrate the International Literacy Day by helping your children read and have access to quality children’s books.