Worldreader Receives Gates Foundation Grant, Will Launch Ereading Pilot in Eight Kenyan Libraries

From the Worldreader Blog:

With the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant, we will provide eight libraries in Kenya with 250 e-readers with protective cases. Library customers will have instantaneous access to 50,000 fiction and non-fiction books, reference materials and storybooks, plus a complete set of digital textbooks used in Kenyan schools and suitable for patrons of all ages. The pilot will roll out near the Kisumu region in early 2014, and target libraries in diverse settings.
We’re especially excited about this partnership since we got the midterm results in from our e-reading programs in Ghana and saw the facts on how e-readers make children better readers quickly.

Additional Details From the Worldreader News Release

The pilot will provide eight libraries in Kenya with 250 e-readers fully equipped with protective cases providing their library patrons with instantaneous access to an immediate supply of 50,000 fiction, non-fiction, genre, reference books, storybooks, plus a complete set of Kenyan digital textbooks suitable for patrons of all ages.
Worldreader’s previous work to reduce the cost and complexity of using e-readers makes the device a compelling, cost-effective and efficient alternative to distributing paper-based books in sub-Saharan Africa. E-readers, with their long battery life, decreasing price, and ability to download digital books in less than 60 seconds using 3G technology, have proven effective in Worldreader’s programs and are already used by 12,000 children, teachers, and their families in Worldreader’s school and library programs in Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, South Africa and Tanzania.

See Also: iREAD 2 Midterm Study Results: All Children Reading in Ghana (September 2013 via Worldreader)
Tip/Thanks: @MattRWeaver

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