LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new partnership initiative launches today between the London Evening Standard and NOOK Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), to support the London Evening Standard’s pioneering literacy campaign, Get London Reading, and make reading more accessible across the UK.
In support of the campaign partnership, NOOK will donate 1,000 of its eReaders to the Get London Reading campaign, to be given to reading helpers trained by campaign partner Beanstalk, a national literacy charity. Beanstalk literacy volunteers will use the NOOKs in schools with high levels of illiteracy to help children who have fallen behind in reading and build upon the great work already achieved through the campaign.
The London Evening Standard’s Get London Reading campaign is designed to inspire children to become better readers and maximise the opportunities that reading brings. Get London Reading has already helped over 2,000 London children improve their reading by raising £1 million to fund the training and supply of reading helpers into schools. The initiative, launched in June 2011, has also seen hundreds of London Evening Standard readers volunteer their time to go into schools each week to help children with their reading.
David Cohen, London Evening Standard’s Campaigns Editor said: "Reading is a basic human right, without which a person is ill-equipped to function in society, let alone fulfill their potential. Shocking levels of illiteracy in London's primary schools prompted the Evening Standard to act by trying to help children who had fallen behind with their reading and were in danger of never catching up. We are thrilled that NOOK are supporting us - these 1,000 NOOKs that they have gifted to our campaign will help us reach even more children, improving their skills and helping them begin a life-long journey of reading."
Jim Hilt, Managing Director, Barnes & Noble, the world’s largest bookseller and leading retailer of content, digital media and education, said: “Literacy is at the heart of everything we do. Together with the London Evening Standard and Beanstalk, we hope to further enrich the minds of readers of all ages across the UK and give them access to the books they love. Barnes & Noble is underlining our commitment to giving people affordable access to reading by lowering the price of our award-winning NOOK® Simple Touch eReader across the UK.”
Sue Porto, CEO, Beanstalk said: “We are most grateful for Barnes & Noble’s support and
look forward to seeing the impact the eReaders make in tackling illiteracy. In this digital age, where children have access to technology at ever younger ages, it’s vitally important that we use every possible resource to help engage the children we are working with.”
Notes to editors
About London Evening Standard
The London Evening Standard is London’s only free quality evening title and distributes nearly 750,000 copies a day – reaching out to 1.7 million Londoners. It was bought by Evgeny Lebedev in January 2009 and is edited by Sarah Sands.
About Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) is a Fortune 500 company and the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products. The company operates 677 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 50 states, and one of the Web’s largest e-commerce sites, BN.com (www.bn.com). Its NOOK Media LLC subsidiary is a leader in the emerging digital reading and digital education markets. The NOOK digital business offers award-winning NOOK® products and an expansive collection of digital reading and entertainment content through the NOOK Store™ (www.nook.com), while Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC operates 678 bookstores serving over 4.6 million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble is proud to be named a J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Customer Service Champion and is only one of 50 U.S. companies so named. Barnes & Noble.com is ranked the number one online retailer in customer satisfaction in the book, music and video category and a Top 10 online retailer overall in customer satisfaction according to ForeSee E-Retail Satisfaction Index (Spring Top 100 Edition).
General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company's corporate website: www.barnesandnobleinc.com.
NOOK®, NOOK Store™, NOOK Video™, NOOK Video Apps™ are trademarks of Barnes & Noble, Inc. Other trademarks referenced in this release are the property of their respective owners.
Follow Barnes & Noble on Twitter (www.bn.com/twitter), Facebook (www.facebook.com/barnesandnoble) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/barnesandnoble).
About NOOK Media LLC
NOOK reading and entertainment products make it easy to read what you love, anywhere you like™ with a fun, easy-to-use and immersive digital reading experience. With NOOK, customers gain access to the expansive NOOK Store™ of more than 3 million digital books, plus periodicals, comics, apps, movies and TV shows, and the ability to enjoy content across a wide array of popular devices through free NOOK Reading Apps™ and NOOK Video apps, available at www.nook.com/freenookapps. NOOK owners receive Always Free NOOK Support in any of Barnes & Noble’s nearly 700 bookstores. Find NOOK devices in Barnes & Noble stores and online at www.nook.com, as well as leading retailers including Best Buy, Walmart, Target and many others. NOOK products are available in the United Kingdom through www.nook.co.uk and leading retailers.
For more information on NOOK, follow us on www.twitter.com/nookBN or www.twitter.com/nook_UK and www.facebook.com/nook or www.facebook.com/nookGB.
About Beanstalk
Beanstalk is a national literacy charity that recruits, vets, trains and supports volunteers to work in primary schools with children who have fallen behind with their reading.
Its vision is a nation of confident children who can read and grow up to lead successful lives. Website http://www.beanstalkcharity.org.uk
Beanstalk reading helpers work with children on a one-to-one basis, giving them their full attention and support to improve reading levels, increase overall confidence and inspire a lifelong love of reading.
Each Beanstalk reading helper works with three children and sees each child for two 30 minute sessions a week, during term-time, for a whole year. Together, they read, play and talk. With Beanstalk's support the child's approach to learning and enjoying reading is often transformed.
Beanstalk works in areas of deprivation across England through 17 branches in the North, Midlands, Greater London and Kent.
Beanstalk was founded in 1973 as Volunteer Reading Help by Susan Belgrave MBE, Beanstalk’s President. This year sees it celebrate its 40th Anniversary.
To apply to be a Beanstalk reading helper, visit: http://www.beanstalkcharity.org.uk/reading-helpers/how-to-apply
