Title
& Description
News Outlet
& Journalist
Date
& Location
MEDIA TYPE
& LENGTH
21 September 2020
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
Teachers across Massachusetts are finding ways to incorporate antiracist practices into their curriculum. An English teacher at Newton High School is replacing required reading materials produced by white male authors...
Concentrate
Sarah Rigg
16 October 2019
Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
Telling It, a Ypsilanti, Michigan based organization, uses creative writing, spoken word, and other forms of self-expression as a method of healing and mental health care for area youth. It hires people with similar l...
Second Wave Michigan
Jane Simons
10 October 2019
Battle Creek, Michigan, United States
Text
1500-3000 Words
A very special 15-person book club in Battle Creek, Michigan is using the book club format to discuss hard topics like race. The conversations steer profound, intimate, and personal, and many members testify to how mu...
29 July 2019
Rotherham, England
Text
800-1500 Words
Grimm & Co.'s Apothecary to the Magical is boosting child literacy skills in a former steel and coal town with a large low-income population. By offering an imaginative space and free writing workshops, the nonprofit ...
26 July 2019
Brazil
Text
800-1500 Words
Promoting more diverse and inclusive narratives takes a publisher interested more in social purpose than profits. Vira Letra, and independent publisher in Brazil, has employed a cost and profit-sharing business model ...
29 June 2019
New York, New York, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
The Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library is a branch of the New York Public Library system that offers a wide array of services for vision-impaired adults and children. They hold the largest physical colle...
20 June 2019
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
At Lowell School in Washington D.C., lessons about climate change don't just appear in science class, but also in most humanities courses. Cognizant of the stress this places on young students, the school has worked w...
28 May 2019
New York, New York, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
When authors from traditionally marginalized communities can’t find space in the industry, they make their own. Using Twitter as a platform and safe space for authors having trouble getting into the literary world, #D...
22 April 2019
Kutztown, Pennsylvania, United States
Broadcast TV News
3-5 Minutes
City Cuts is a special barbershop in Kutztown, PA that, in addition to being a barbershop, is simultaneously running an internationally-acclaimed literacy program for kids. Barber Jon Escueta gives young clients $3 to...
17 April 2019
Zaatari, Mafraq Governorate, Jordan
Text
1500-3000 Words
We Love Reading, an organization backed by UNICEF and USAID, works with all of Jordan's Syrian refugee camps and one of Ethiopia's South Sudanese camps to use storytelling as a tool for psychological healing. It start...
Literary Hub
Sarah Hoenicke
9 April 2019
Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Text
Over 3000 Words
The Sri Lankan Civil War lasted from 1983 to 2009 and bitterly divided the country into two sides between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Years later in 2012, a literary program cal...
17 January 2019
Ojokoro, Lagos, Nigeria
Text
800-1500 Words
A community library built in Lagos, Nigeria by a nonprofit called Pyramid Educational Advancement (PEA) is filling a literacy gap in the area due to the low number of government-owned public libraries. Aside from simp...
25 December 2018
Wisconsin, United States
Radio
Over 15 Minutes
Around the world, people are putting out Little Free Libraries—a small birdhouse like box for people to take, leave, or swap books. These libraries have helped create easy access to book ownership and reading as well ...
12 September 2018
United States
Text
800-1500 Words
Speak, a young adult novel that grapples with sexual violence, was heralded for its unflinching honesty. Now, in the wake of the #MeToo era, librarians and educators are “ turning to fiction to help teenagers understa...
23 August 2018
New York, New York, United States
Text
Under 800 Words
The New York Public Library Insta Novels program makes public domain works available to be read on Instagram. Featuring engaging artwork and a user friendly format, Insta Novels make literature available to users with...
9 July 2018
Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Text
1500-3000 Words
Cleveland has been quietly building a network of book clubs, libraries, and empowerment groups "using literature to empower marginalized groups, foster economic dynamism, and bridge social divides." From workplace and...
6 July 2018
Berlin, Germany
Text
800-1500 Words
In Germany, where the political ramifications of more liberal refugee policies are becoming known, the city of Berlin has become home to an "Arabic-language literary and cultural center," housed in a public library. T...
7 June 2018
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Broadcast TV News
Under 800 Words
An organization called Books for Africa collects donations of books from all over the country to send to schools in Rwanda. Books for Africa has sent over 41 million books over the past 30 years to 53 different countr...
9 December 2017
England
Text
1500-3000 Words
Many initiatives have been implemented to increase the diversity of British literary culture efforts such as establishing new publishing imprints, pairing writers with agents and editors, and providing paid internship...
29 November 2017
St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
St. Louis-based We Stories provides parents with a course curriculum and reading list for the children with the goal of sparking conversations about race, oppression, and cultural awareness. The target audience of the...
5 July 2017
Seattle, Washington, United States
Text
Under 800 Words
Through poetry, Seattle's Civic Poet collected the stories, observations, and creativity of past and present residents. These poems were entered into a Poetic Grid, an online interface that connected the writing on a ...
The Big Issue
Christine Ro
14 July 2016
Copenhagen, Denmark
Text
800-1500 Words
The first Human Library emerged in 2000 in Copenhagen, and has since exploded in popularity to the point of operating chapters in more than 70 different countries. The concept is that readers should not judge a book b...
4 June 2016
Binghamton, New York, United States
Text
Over 3000 Words
Literacy rates can be a problem, especially in low-income school districts. Amid a years-in-the-making revision of literacy instruction, the Binghamton school district is seeing a payoff.
10 July 2013
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
Social innovation rarely comes from “eureka” moments; it’s much more deliberate - it’s something that can be studied and learned. A short summer reading list for anyone interested in shaking up the status quo.
5 July 2013
Los Angeles, California, United States
Radio
3-5 Minutes
Dissatisfied with the opportunities for residents of assisted living facilities to engage in creative pursuits, Tim Carpenter developed senior ‘art colonies’ that provided writing, performance, and visual arts classes...
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