After the major earthquakes that took place in the Southeastern Region of Turkey on February 6, 2023, Günışığı Kitaplığı took immediate action to support children and young survivors in the region. In addition to making financial donations, Günışığı Kitaplığı, donated 50,000 books to be distributed in collaboration with major NGO’s and public authorities to the students who try continuing their education in containers and/or tent cities in the region.
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Organised by Günışığı Kitaplığı annualy since 2011 this competition is open to middle school students from all over Turkey. Every year a different theme is selected for the stories to be written, some of which are SDG related such as “Love of Nature”. Award winning and short listed stories are compiled as a book and distributed to all schools and libraries free of charge. Encouraging children to express themselves in writing, this competition develops their written communication skills.
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Seminars prepared and given by Mine Soysal, founding manager of Günışığı Kitaplığı, and the author of Eyvah Kitap! (Oh No Books!), a long-best seller which has reached hundreds of thousands of readers of all ages. The content can be customized according to target audience being mainly educators and/or parents. Besides theoretical background, seminar covers case discussions on interesting topics with the purpose of giving insight to adults for understanding the needs of child readers.
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The sectoral conference, organized by Günışığı Kitaplığı as a social responsibility project since 2011 is supported also by the Turkish Publishers Association. Bringing together all the stakeholders of the publishing industry with new agendas every year, this conference plays an important role in the development of our publishing sector to international standards. The program of the 2022 conference was designed to focus on “Climate Crisis and Publishing Sector” and supported by UNDP Türkiye as well.
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Annual, free of charge, teacher training seminars organised by Günışığı Kitaplığı since 2010 hosted authors, academicians and experts from related fields as speakers. Discussing the use of literature books in classrooms through “creative reading practices”, every year four such practices are also being presented by teachers. A climate action related topic is also included in each seminar program to furnish the educators with necessary and correct discussion tools with their students.
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This practical, hands-on workshop convened by the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative SDG Publishers Compact Fellows, the Open Climate Campaign, and OpenPharma explored how to make research more accessible to non-academic audiences. It included practical advice and a worked example for researchers of how to write for non-expert readers, sharing the practical implications of their work in plain language.
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Daniel Molesworth, Director of Data at Emerald Publishing, ran an ultra-marathon each day for five days smashing his fundraising target for BookTrust – a UK-wide early literacy non-profit that increases book access, choice, and ownership for thousands of children.
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At an event held during the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers (STM) Reception in October, Research4Life gathered key publishing leaders to recommit to its mission of building an inclusive, diverse, and equitable scholarly environment. The event highlighted the critical role of publishers in closing global knowledge gaps and advancing the SDGs, serving as a renewed call for publishers to join the mission and support its sustainability.
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WIPO hosted “Right to Read” Conference on the topic of the Marrakesh Treaty and the Accessible Books Consortium in Sydney, Australia for representatives of government and blindness associations from the Pacific Islands. Ms. Maryanne Diamond, a key negotiator on behalf of the World Blind Union in Morocco, where the Marrakesh Treaty was adopted in 2013 gave the keynote address on the first day.
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Collins staff in Glasgow volunteered at charity Refuweegee, a News Corp Giving recipient, to help set up the new Refuweegee shop where refugees new to the city can access clothing, household items, entertainment items, food, and toiletries, all free of charge
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HarperCollins President and CEO Brian Murray accepted the Literacy Leadership Award at Literacy Partners’ annual gala, celebrating 30+ years of partnership with the organization. Brian introduced Viola Davis, Oscar−winning actress, producer, New York Times bestselling author of Finding Me (HarperOne), and founder of JVL Media, as she received the Champion of Literacy Award. The evening, marking Literacy Partners’ 50th anniversary, raised over $1M to support literacy education and advocacy in NYC
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For the fourteenth year in a row, HarperCollins partnered with Volunteers of America for Operation Backpack. HarperCollins donated dictionaries and children’s books; employees volunteered to fill backpacks with books and school supplies. The bags were distributed to school-age children living in New York City homeless or domestic violence shelters.
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25 volunteers from HarperCollins UK joined forces with charity CleanupUK to go on a litter pick at Southwark Park near our offices in the News Building. The team collected 28 bags of refuse, making the park a safer and cleaner space for the local community and wildlife.
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HarperCollins’ New to Publishing and Access Aspiration programs encourage people from underrepresented and low-income communities to enter the publishing field.
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To celebrate its 200th anniversary, HarperCollins donated $200K to literacy charities, including NCAC, Rood to Read, United Through Reading, and We Need Diverse Books. They also invited book lovers to share #WhyIRead on social media to emphasize the importance of reading. Six winners using the hashtag won ebook prizes and chose a First Book-eligible school or program to receive a donation of 1K books. First Book impacts 6.5M children annually in low-income communities across North America.
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In the UK, HarperCollins Children’s Books collaborated with the International Rescue Committee to bring a Christmas surprise to children at St. Mary’s Ukrainian School. Bestselling children’s books were translated into Ukrainian and gifted to families rebuilding their lives in the UK.
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Over the past decades, Portugal has undergone significant transformations in the field of education and the promotion of reading, seeking to respond to the challenges of a constantly evolving society. Despite the progress, there are still challenges that require utmost attention, namely the inequality in access to education and reading that still persists. Book 2.0 provides a pivotal platform to bring the public and the sector together to drive the love of reading.
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This online webinar recognises that scholarly publishing faces significant challenges related to DEIA, and gender is one critical dimension that demands attention. While women are in many roles within publishing, there are too few leading publishing houses. Improvement is needed, and this session focuses on the role of women in leadership. In an area where we know gender disparities persist, it is heartening to recognize that women are at the forefront, leading the way in various roles.
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