Transforming the world’s book markets and bringing books to every child

Literacy is a basic right that empowers individuals and benefits society. In recognition of this central role in development, the Global Book Alliance was founded to guarantee that children everywhere have the learning materials they need to learn to read by 2030. This ambitious vision demands market-based transformation in book development, procurement, distribution, and use—a flexible and iterative process we call the Book Chain.

Global Book Alliance is a partnership of donors, multilateral agencies, and non-government organizations whose vision is a world in which all children have access to quality books that they can use to learn to read, read to learn, and develop a love of reading. 

Featured
The Path To Literacy Requires Investment In Countries To Publish More And Better Books
The Path To Literacy Requires Investment In Countries To Publish More And Better Books

On International Women’s Day, the Global Book Alliance joined government and multilateral organization representatives at the 2021 Annual Commonwealth Day Lecture. The talk, given by founding co-chairs of the International Parliamentary Network for Education, Senator Dr. Getrude Musuruve of Kenya and Harriett Baldwin, Member of Parliament (MP) of the United Kingdom, focused on action to deliver the global promise of quality education for all, and highlighted the importance of girls' education and reading.

Global Digital Library launches Kinyarwanda Language
Global Digital Library launches Kinyarwanda Language

Global Digital Library, in partnership with ADEA and the Rwandan Ministry of Education, launched 50 stories in the Kinyarwanda language.

World’s “Most Exceptional” Teacher uses QR Codes to Reach Rural Indian students
World’s “Most Exceptional” Teacher uses QR Codes to Reach Rural Indian students

A rural Indian teacher won “Most Exceptional Teacher” award for using innovations such as QR codes to teach hard-to-reach students in his village.

The REACH trust fund: Increasing the Supply of Textbooks in Cambodia
The REACH trust fund: Increasing the Supply of Textbooks in Cambodia

In May of 2020, the REACH Trust Fund released a report titled: Cambodia - Can Transparency and Incentives for Community Participation Increase the Supply of Textbooks to Schools?

GBA's Accessible Book Series: Putting Universal Design for Learning Principles into Action
GBA's Accessible Book Series: Putting Universal Design for Learning Principles into Action

Through the month of December, in recognition of International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3rd), the GBA twitter feed featured a series of five posts that highlighted ways to increase the accessibility of books for children.

GBA Signs on to SDG Publisher’s Compact
GBA Signs on to SDG Publisher’s Compact

The GBA is proud to sign onto the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Publisher’s Compact. As an advocate of local book publishers, the GBA plans to leverage its role as an alliance to convene partners to develop, localize and scale book supply chain projects that will advance progress on SDG 4, Quality Education.

 

Books Promote Self-Reliance

Illiteracy costs the world $1.19 trillion per year. It contributes to poor health, lost earnings and lost business productivity. Widespread access to books at home and in school promotes better performance in math, science, and other subjects. A love of books and reading also improves the health and wellbeing of individuals and families, opens up employment opportunities, and mitigates the chances that youth will pursue criminal or violent activities. UNESCO, the World Bank, and the International Commission for Financing Global Educational Opportunity have all called for the increased provision of books to improve learning.

Despite this, millions of children do not have access to the books necessary to help them learn to read.

 
 
 

Closing the Book Gap

An effective supply of books requires high-quality title development in languages and formats children can use and understand, access to those titles by printers and publishers, and a functioning supply chain to deliver books to their potential readers.

Global Book Alliance strengthens key stakeholders and processes along a series of interconnected events we call the book chain.

Literacy Resources

Featured
The REACH trust fund: Increasing the Supply of Textbooks in Cambodia
The REACH trust fund: Increasing the Supply of Textbooks in Cambodia

In May of 2020, the REACH Trust Fund released a report titled: Cambodia - Can Transparency and Incentives for Community Participation Increase the Supply of Textbooks to Schools?

Read More →
How to Contribute Books to the Global Digital Library
How to Contribute Books to the Global Digital Library

The GDL actively seeks high-quality early-grade reading materials in all languages for addition to its collection. If your organization has, or is creating such materials, please consider contributing to the global collection of openly licensed freely available books on the GDL.

Read More →
 
 
 

The Global Book Alliance is a partnership of donor agencies, multilateral institutions, and civil society organizations that are committed to bringing books to every child. GBA’s flagship initiatives leverage the resources, expertise, and convening capabilities of Alliance members towards innovative and high impact collaborative efforts.

Partner News

 
 
Featured
Mother Tongue-Based Education
Mother Tongue-Based Education

Literacy is the cornerstone of education, but for many children, developing literacy means learning an entirely new language, one they do not speak at home. There are reasons for this: some countries have hundreds of local languages -- making the cost of creating learning materials for all languages high. But Mother tongue-based (MTB) education, teaching children literacy skills in the language they speak at home, has been shown to have benefits which far outweigh the costs.

The REACH trust fund: Improving the efficiency of book procurement in South Africa
The REACH trust fund: Improving the efficiency of book procurement in South Africa

The Results in Education for All Children (REACH) Trust Fund carried out a project aimed to strengthen the South African publishing industry by 1) raising awareness of the critical need for storybooks to create a habit of reading in children, and 2) increasing the supply of quality storybooks in African languages.

The Path To Literacy Requires Investment In Countries To Publish More And Better Books
The Path To Literacy Requires Investment In Countries To Publish More And Better Books

On International Women’s Day, the Global Book Alliance joined government and multilateral organization representatives at the 2021 Annual Commonwealth Day Lecture. The talk, given by founding co-chairs of the International Parliamentary Network for Education, Senator Dr. Getrude Musuruve of Kenya and Harriett Baldwin, Member of Parliament (MP) of the United Kingdom, focused on action to deliver the global promise of quality education for all, and highlighted the importance of girls' education and reading.

Global Digital Library launches Kinyarwanda Language
Global Digital Library launches Kinyarwanda Language

Global Digital Library, in partnership with ADEA and the Rwandan Ministry of Education, launched 50 stories in the Kinyarwanda language.

The REACH trust fund: Increasing the Supply of Textbooks in Cambodia
The REACH trust fund: Increasing the Supply of Textbooks in Cambodia

In May of 2020, the REACH Trust Fund released a report titled: Cambodia - Can Transparency and Incentives for Community Participation Increase the Supply of Textbooks to Schools?

GBA's Accessible Book Series: Putting Universal Design for Learning Principles into Action
GBA's Accessible Book Series: Putting Universal Design for Learning Principles into Action

Through the month of December, in recognition of International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3rd), the GBA twitter feed featured a series of five posts that highlighted ways to increase the accessibility of books for children.

GBA Signs on to SDG Publisher’s Compact
GBA Signs on to SDG Publisher’s Compact

The GBA is proud to sign onto the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Publisher’s Compact. As an advocate of local book publishers, the GBA plans to leverage its role as an alliance to convene partners to develop, localize and scale book supply chain projects that will advance progress on SDG 4, Quality Education.

How to Contribute Books to the Global Digital Library
How to Contribute Books to the Global Digital Library

The GDL actively seeks high-quality early-grade reading materials in all languages for addition to its collection. If your organization has, or is creating such materials, please consider contributing to the global collection of openly licensed freely available books on the GDL.

The GBA Welcomes a New Deputy Chair
The GBA Welcomes a New Deputy Chair

The GBA warmly welcomes Scott Walter to the GBA Secretariat in the newly created position of Deputy Chair.

Covid-19 Content in Underserved Languages Added to the Global Digital Library
Covid-19 Content in Underserved Languages Added to the Global Digital Library

GBA Steering Committee member All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development (ACR:GCD), has recently announced important progress on one of GBA’s flagship initiatives, the Begin with Books prize, with the contribution of age-appropriate early grade reading content related to Covid-19 to the Global Digital Library.