Library For All Q1 Impact Report

Transcript

1. IMPACT REPORT Q1 2016
2. A LETTER FROM OUR FOUNDERS Welcome to Library For All’s first Quarterly Impact Report! We are delighted to share this report with you, our dedicated supporters, partners, advisors, and peers. Library For All saw tremendous growth this quarter and achieved major milestones. In the following pages, you will see a snapshot of each of our current Library programs, including updates from our latest pilot program in Mongolia, user stories from our programs in Haiti, Rwanda, Democratic Republic and Cambodia, and our plans for the months ahead. As we hope this report demonstrates, in Q1 of 2016, we have continued to test new ideas, pilot different models and push the boundaries. We have encouraged our team not to fear failure, but rather to fail fast so that we can then find new paths forward. We are excited by the progress we have made in Q1 and the strategies we have put in place to deepen and widen our impact in Q2, and we hope you are too. We wish you happy reading! Rebecca McDonald, Founder and CEO Tanyella Evans, Co-Founder and COO
3. A LETTER FROM OUR FOUNDERS TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 - Our Mission The Problem About Library For All 7 - Our Programs Haiti D.R. of Congo Rwanda Cambodia Mongolia 14 - Our Product Content Technology
4. 4 91 percent of primary school-age children in the developing world currently attending school. 250 million children are not learning to read and write, even after spending four years in school. YET… A GLOBAL ILLITERACY CRISIS 3 School enrollment across the globe is at an all-time high with Due to lack of resources in the classroom setting
5. 171 million If all students in low-income countries acquired basic reading skills by the time they finished primary school WHAT’S POSSIBLE? 4 people could be lifted out of poverty. Access to books in mother-tongue language is a key factor in increasing literacy rates. Yet today, fewer than of the population has access to books in a language they speak or understand. 40 percent
6. 5 LIBRARY FOR ALL is a non-profit organization building a digital library for the developing world. OUR MISSION is to provide individuals with the opportunity to learn, dream, and aspire to lift themselves out of poverty.
7. PLATFORM & CONNECTIVITY CONTENT DISTRIBUTION • Interface that is easy-to-use and available in local languages • Platform that is accessible on any low-cost device and optimized for low-bandwidth areas, and available to read offline • Data that is collected through the platform on users and books • K-12 ebooks from local & international publishers available in local and international languages • Local Advisory Boards of education specialists who guide content selection • Catalogue organized by subject matter and grade level, and where applicable, is tagged to the local curriculum • School distribution model wherein we partner with schools, NGOs and governments who use Library For All to enhance existing education programs • Mobile distribution model wherein we make the Library available to individuals as a downloadable app OUR DIGITAL LIBRARY 6
8. Haiti DRC Rwanda Cambodia Mongolia A SNAPSHOT OF OUR PROGRAMS 5 countries + 8,000 readers + 42 schools + 70 publishers + 3,228 books 7
9. In Haiti, the location of our first program, a scarcity of resources greatly impacts educational outcomes. Only 15% of Haitian schools have a functioning library. 37.9% of individuals are unable to read or write, compared to about 12% in other Latin American countries (2014 UNESCO Report: Teaching and Learning Education For All). Our Haitian digital library currently houses an extensive collection of digital Haitian Creole books, as well as French and English titles. The Library is available to children in 24 schools in different regions across the country. We have had positive feedback from partners about the impact of the Library in promoting a culture of reading amongst students and increasing the self-confidence of young readers. During Q1, our local team in Haiti recognized that a handful of schools were struggling to pay the upfront cost for devices. As a solution, our team have designed an NGO and Microfinance Program whereby major Haitian banks can give schools a loan to purchase the device and to install our digital Library program. Schools will pay this back over time. Thus far the team have had extremely positive reaction to this model, and we look forward to testing it in Q2. 992 books in Creole, French, Spanish and English 24 schools reading books on our Library 36 schools signed up for teacher training of our Library HAITI “Library For All is a special program that is being piloted at one of our partner schools. The kids who are part of this program are in the ‘restavek system’ [as child slaves]; they don’t have access to books at home, nor do they really have time to focus on school as they have chores to do all day long. Djerry lives in a poor area and does not have access to books or a library. At the beginning, he couldn’t read out loud because he had low self-esteem and a reading level deficiency. He does not have people in his family or social environment who can help him develop his reading ability… Now Djerry has become so motivated that he can’t wait for his turn to read out loud for the class. He is making progress in pronunciation, intonation and comprehension. Djerry’s progress is obvious and it proves how important Library For All is for the kids, in particular those who are in the ‘restevek system’ in Haiti. It positively impacts children’s reading levels, and helps them become smarter in school while they grow in self-esteem and self-confidence.” -Samuel, Child Advocate, Restavek Freedom
10. In partnership with local NGO En Classe, our Library has been implemented across 7 schools in Kinshasa. As a result, 800 primary school students have access to a rich collection of French books. At the time of launch, En Classe elected to implement the offline version of our digital library in their schools. This meant that our Library was pre-installed on devices for their students and teachers. Though this is a helpful temporary solution for the En Classe schools, it means that we cannot update the Library regularly, nor can we get data back through the platform. We have learned how important it is for us to receive data back. Without it, we cannot know how to improve the content and the platform for our uses. We plan to connect these schools to the online version of our Library in Q2, allowing us to refresh the collection and to ensure that the En Classe Schools receive the latest technology updates of our platform. Looking ahead, we will expand our Library to the remaining 5 schools in the En Classe network, and seek new partnerships with schools, government and NGO agencies to increase access. 120 books Available in French 7 schools reading books on our Library 800 students across 7 schools DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO Meet the "Aide Scholaire" at En Classe’s schools. This is a group of dedicated teachers who use our Library to teach their students in class throughout the week. 10 Photos courtesy of En Classe
11. 11 In June 2015, our Library was released on the Rwandan Google Play Store as a pilot of a national roll-out model. Individuals across the country are now able to download our the Library directly from their mobile phones. To date, there are 496 individuals actively reading on our digital library via mobile phone or tablet, with a total of 33,751 pages read. Through our pilot, we identified that many of the devices in Rwanda lack bandwidth to download our platform in its current form. As a result, we have made significant enhancements to our technology that will make it more light- weight and more accessible. We will relaunch the platform in Rwanda in Q3 and expect to see much higher user engagement. During Q4, when school is back in session, we will implement our school distribution model. We have already begun forging relationships with schools and NGOs with whom we will partner. We are excited by the initial adoption of our Library in Rwanda and recognize the massive opportunity for scale across the country. With the right partners, we will work to increase the ease of access to Library For All in Rwanda. RWANDA 616 books in Kinyarwanda and English 33,571 pages read on our Library since June 2015 496 readers on our Library via the Google Play store ‘We have 254 students including 3 Nursery Classes and 6 Primary classes P1-P6… Library For All was introduced to the APIE Project Officer in UK, and immediately identified as a useful resource for our school environment, where we are always searching for more school materials and books to add to our Library. We anticipate using Library For All in class formally and informally. As part of reading comprehension activities, children will access specific texts in order to read and respond to questions related to the texts. They will also have the opportunity to choose texts to read for pleasure and to stimulate discussion with their classmates. It is really exciting to have an application that provides current texts from local publishers. Having access to these books in Kinyarwanda gives students the opportunity to develop their mother tongue. The platform also seems easy to use and we are confident that the children will be able to navigate their way around the app independently. In a country that is developing so rapidly, we are excited about being at the forefront of this change and pioneering this method of using e-readers in the classroom.” -Amy, A Partner in Education, Umubano Primary School 11
12. In partnership with the Asia Foundation’s Books For Asia, we made our digital library available in Cambodia in five primary schools, and two mobile libraries in late November 2015. To assess the need for our platform in Cambodia, we collaborated with Books For Asia on a small Book Availability Study. The purpose of this study was to measure access to reading materials at four sample schools. Results from the study demonstrated that on average, children at the four schools have access to approximately 14 books at home, of which only 15% are children’s books. This means that the majority of children have less than 3 books to read at home. Our Cambodian Library contains 50 books in English and 50 in Khmer, sourced from local publishers and NGOs. 100 books in Khmer and English 381,500 pages read on our Library since December 2015 4,729 readers on our Library via 5 schools and 2 mobile libraries “Since the project began students who weren’t previously active or enthusiastic in reading are beginning to come during their break times to read on their own.” - Grade 6 Teacher A student reflected in a survey after reading ‘Tok Tok Penh Born’, a Khmer book. “It reminds me most of myself and my family. It made me understand how tough it is for my parents to earn a living and get me to school.” - Grade 6 student CAMBODIA 12
13. 13 We are pleased to announce that our digital library is now being used by children in Mongolia! Our Mongolian pilot program was officially launched on 20 January 2016, in partnership with the Asia Foundation’s Books For Asia, and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Children from grades 5-9 are using our Library across 6 different schools in the nation’s capital, Ulaanbaatar. Since the Mongolian launch, our technology team have pushed out several versions of our digital platform to ensure we are providing the best user-experience for Mongolian children. The team were challenged by rendering the interface of the platform into the Mongolian script, as the words are significantly longer than any other language on the platform. They worked to write new code that would allow for longer lines, and after consulting advisors and spending hours behind their computers, they succeeded. They are now confident that this will not be a challenge with any other language. Since January 2016, 154,7000 pages have been read in Mongolia at 6 pilot schools. We are excited about our prospects for scale in Mongolia. MONGOLIA 150 books in Mongolian and English 154,700 pages read on our Library since January 2016 2,500 readers on our Library via 6 schools These schools are in ger districts on the outskirts of the capital, Ulaanbaatar. Half of Ulaanbaatar’s 1.5 million residents live in ger districts, which are occupied by rural migrants that lack access to basic public services like water, sewage systems, and central heating. 13 Photos courtesy of the Asia Foundation
14. PLATFORM: We are continuing to develop a new and improved version of our Android platform, while simultaneously supporting our existing one. We are finalizing the browser version of our platform so children can access our library through standard PC’s and laptops; not just tablets and smartphones. DATA: We are developing a statistics display that will provide us with a more robust understanding of our impact so that we can continue to improve the Library. CONNECTIVITY: We have designed and deployed a HUB model to enable schools with extremely limited connectivity to access Library For All. using a small Wi-Fi device. The HUB is built on Raspberry Pi technology. It is a pocket-sized device that plugs into a monitor, and is able to connect to the internet periodically using either a USB internet stick or an Ethernet cable. Once connected, the Hub automatically downloads new library content and uploads reports to Library for All. When powered, the Hub creates a Wi-Fi signal that will appear on any device within 20 meters, providing up-to-date Library access to all users in a given classroom or school. We successfully tested and deployed our HUB model in Haiti in early 2015. The success of that pilot resulted in the roll out of the same model in both Cambodia and Mongolia in Q1 of 2016. OUR PRODUCT: TECHNOLOGY UPDATES 14 Our overall objective in 2016 is to ensure our digital platform is available to as many children as possible; irrespective of the tech- resources available to them.
15. We are auditing our content across our international programs to ensure our Library is not outdated and disengaging. Our content strategy for 2016 includes the addition of new content collections to ensure books remain relevant, relatable and captivating. We are continuing to sign new, local publishers who will both increase the number of, and diversify the books available on our platform. Further, we are developing a range of literacy collections that seek to tackle contemporary international issues, including gender and health. OUR PRODUCT: CONTENT UPDATES The cover illustration for Adventure of Jingenuur by Ganchimeg B., who is one of the winners of a national children’s storybook writing competition, hosted with Mongolian Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. 25 of the winning books are included in the digital library for Mongolia. 15 3,228 Educational Resources in English, French, Creole, Spanish, Kinyarwanda, Khmer, and Mongolian 70 publishers contributing books to our Library 31 local Advisory Board Members working with our Content team to curate books for each country’s collection OUR DIGITAL LIBRARY
16. THE LIBRARY FOR ALL TEAM UNTIL NEXT QUARTER,