ustyme and Reading Is Fundamental Launch the Billion e-Book Gift
The Largest Gift of Children’s e-Books in History Starts on
#GivingTuesday and Promotes Family Reading
SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–On #GivingTuesday, ustyme announces it is giving one billion e-books to
families across the nation through the Billion
eBook Gift. The initiative, which supports Reading Is Fundamental
(RIF) during its 50th anniversary year, provides a library of 50 free
e-books to anyone who visits BillioneBookGift.org.
Classics such as Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little
Pigs and many others are digitally mastered in HD and provided in
English and Spanish. Families across the nation can enjoy 50 classic
e-books absolutely free, without advertising or fees of any kind.
Children can read the e-books independently, share them with a caring
adult side-by-side or remotely in a live ustyme video call on virtually
any device. The campaign begins at a time when millions of children from
underserved communities don’t have books in their home. Access to books
is a huge factor in social and emotional development that affects
children’s ability to develop the literacy skills needed to succeed in
school and in life.
“Of the 16 million children living in poverty in the United States,
two-thirds of them don’t have a book to call their own,” noted Carol H.
Rasco, president and CEO of Reading Is Fundamental. “Through the
generosity of ustyme and their partners, millions of children will now
have access to a free library of e-books, which are great tools to
promote learning and reading.”
“The most important gift for every child is spending time together with
caring adults in their lives,” said Joe Salesky, ustyme CEO. “Today,
smartphones and connected devices are everywhere. With this gift, it is
our hope that every device touched by a child provides access to a
choice of books to read – we want to turn screen-time into ‘us time’ and
encourage reading and healthy play with family and friends.”
Through the Billion e-Book gift, ustyme provides both the e-books and
the digital platform to help Reading Is Fundamental expand its reach
into the communities it serves. Families everywhere are encouraged to
get their gift of 50 e-books at BillioneBookGift.org
and spread the word, giving the gift of reading and the joy of sharing
stories with others. Visit BillioneBookGift.org
for a full list of books, information on the importance of reading and
additional partners whose support has made this gift possible. For
additional images and materials visit http://bit.ly/1ThACzx,
Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/BillioneBookGift)
or follow @BillionBookGift
and the #BillioneBookGift
on Twitter.
About #GivingTuesday
#GivingTuesday is a movement to celebrate and provide incentives to give
– the 2015 campaign commences December 1, 2015. This effort harnesses
the power of a unique blend of partners – nonprofit organizations,
businesses and corporations as well as families and individuals – to
transform how people think about, talk about and participate in the
giving season. #GivingTuesday inspires people to take collaborative
action to improve their local communities, give back in better, smarter
ways to the charities and causes they celebrate, and help create a
better world. For more details visit the #GivingTuesday website (www.givingtuesday.org),
Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/GivingTuesday)
or follow @GivingTues and the #GivingTuesday hashtag on Twitter.
About Reading Is Fundamental
Reading
Is Fundamental (RIF) transforms lives through the power of books. By
providing children in need with access to books of their choosing, RIF
empowers young minds to embrace the world of reading and develop a love
of learning. As the nation’s largest children’s literacy organization,
RIF has provided more than 412 million books to 40 million RIF kids over
50 years, inspiring generations to read, learn and grow. Visit us online
to learn more, www.rif.org.
About ustyme
ustyme is a family-first company with the first open digital platform
that enables people to share activities – reading books, playing games
and much more – while spending time together side-by-side or in a
real-time video call. ustyme distributes family educational and
entertainment content and is the publisher of high-quality children’s
books and family games. Available for iPhone,
iPad,
Android
phones and tablets, Chromebook
and web,
the ustyme app makes it easy to socialize in a video call and create
meaningful, deeper relationships through shared experiences of any type
of content, in any language, on virtually any device. For more
information, please visit www.ustyme.com.
Contacts
ustyme
Essy Nickolova, 949-702-2004
essy@ustyme.com
or
Reading
Is Fundamental
Jon Purves, 202-536-3438
jpurves@rif.org
