Dani Zacarias of Worldreader argues book donations have a dramatic impact on the developing world and it is both easier and cheaper in the digital age.
A year ago I stood in central Nairobi scanning book covers laid out on a strip of cloth on the sidewalk. They were a motley collection, unified only by how out of context they all seemed. I saw a cookbook with an enormous turkey on the cover and a book about snowmen. Taken together they had the look of donated books from America: a little tattered and years out of date.
Standing there it occurred to me that the existence of ebooks is changing not just the for profit aspect of publishing, but the philanthropic as well. E-readers and tablets weigh about as much as a single book, yet represent access to countless books. Mobile phone subscriptions are currently almost equal to the number of people in the world and the gap continues to close every day. This means that giving books has never been easier or more efficient, thus enabling the kind of grand scale that changes the game altogether.
Worldreader on Book Donations in the Digital Age - Publishing Perspectives
- e-books |
- Readers |
- Books |
- Worldreader |
- Book donations
5 January 2015
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