Worldreader Mobile Reading Solutions

2 Nov

MLC VANGUARD | Created by Worldreader

Worldreader provides affordable mobile reading solutions that support communities, schools and partners in need of cost-effective, data-rich educational resources, aiming to create digital reading environments that help improve learning outcomes, work readiness and gender equity.

Website

13,402,747 Lives Impacted

Worldreader works with partners to support vulnerable communities with digital reading solutions that help improve learning outcomes, workforce readiness and gender equity. The Worldreader App and the BookSmart solution have benefited more than 17 million readers, among children, youth and young adults.

Worldreader’s programs aim to trigger wide-scale behavior change with the goal of normalizing digital reading in countries where reading has traditionally been reserved for an elite few. From production through consumption, Worldreader is driving the adoption of digital reading, sustained through local publishers, institutions, and individuals.

Worldreader’s global mobile reading initiative has enabled to date over 13 million people to read books on their mobile phones. Worldreader has 375,000 average monthly readers on Worldreader Mobile (Worldreader global app & BookSmart+) and works constantly to reach the most vulnerable.

The Innovation

Worldreader provides affordable, purpose-built solutions to create digital reading environments for communities and schools in need of books. Worldreader Mobile provides access to thousands of books in 47 languages from 440+ local and international publishers, distributed in 120+ categories to help early learners, youth, and adults read more and better. Worldreader’s catalog includes specific featured collections, such as the Inspiring Women collection or Overcoming Adversity collection, to allow readers to explore specific themes that inspire them.

Worldreader Mobile has several specific features that give readers the best experience:

(1) Readers can create their own personalized bookshelves, so all of their favorite books are just one click away;

(2) Worldreader Mobile uses gamification to help readers set goals for themselves and track their reading progress, encouraging them to read more;

(3) For readers who want to keep reading, even when they’re out of data or can’t connect to the internet, the offline reading option guarantees that no reader will ever be without books;

(4) To ensure there’s something for everyone, Worldreader Mobile supports a variety of languages including non-Roman scripts such as Arabic, Amharic, and Hindi.

Worldreader’s software can generate evidence on reading behaviors that physical books cannot. Using large data models, Worldreader can monitor time spent reading, titles read, and support deeper and longer periods of reading. Push notifications, in-app messages, and campaigns encourage positive reading behaviors and reading habit formation. Finally, Worldreader software can integrate assessment tools that help readers, teachers, and caregivers see their reading progress in real-time. Lastly, using Opera Mini’s browser compression technology, Worldreader is able to offer an affordable reading experience that allows for offline reading and uses up to 90% less data than a traditional reading app. Worldreader’s ECL pilot program in India showed that reading one storybook online every day for a whole month incurred data costs equivalent to $0.16, thus making digital reading an affordable option for most phone owners.

About Worldreader

Worldreader is a global non-profit organisation that provides people in the developing world with free access to a library of digital books via e-readers and mobile phones.

Since 2010, over 13.3 million people across 62 countries have read from Worldreader's digital library of thousands of e-books. Worldreader works with device manufacturers, local and international publishers, government agencies, education officials, and local communities to support readers.

Implemented in

Worldreader innovation has been implemented in:

Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Colombia, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.