John Wood, founder and CEO of the non-profit Room To Read libraries announced opening of 1,600 libraries by this year. The libraries will add to those already are operational in schools in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and five other countries.
Wood is hoping Indian donors will step forward and planning to enlist the Young Presidents' Organisation, a non-governmental organization comprising company presidents and CEOs, for his fund-raising efforts in Mumbai. To ensure that children get books and read in the school libraries that it funds, and also to help over worked teachers, the organization employs facilitators and has begun publishing children's books in Hindi. It will soon bring out titles in Telugu, Bengali and Marathi. Room to Read also sets up computer labs for students, and in some countries runs schools as well. Currently it provides scholarships to 900 girls in India. Wood was in India looking for corporate donors.
