Room to Read

In 1998, Room to Read's founder, John Wood, was on a three-week trek around the Annapurna Circuit, a popular hiking route in Nepal. While trekking, he met a teacher who invited him to visit the local school. John was amazed at how warm and welcoming the students and teachers were, but he was saddened by the lack of resources. The school had over 200 children, yet the "library" had only 30 books. Even worse, those books were locked in a cabinet, because books were considered a "scarce resource." The teachers asked him to help change the situation. The headmaster said: "All the children want to learn English so that they can interact with trekkers, and maybe study overseas some day. Yet we are poor, we have no money, we can not even afford pencils, let alone books. Maybe you can help us." John vowed to help and returned one year later with 3,000 books, and the idea for Room to Read was born. For more information on John's transformation from a Microsoft executive to the Founder and Executive Chairman of Room to Read, you can read his book, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World. Room to Read became an official 501(c)(3) charity in 2000. We subsequently expanded into Vietnam, and then into Cambodia and India. In 2005, we began working in Sri Lanka and Laos, and in 2006 we expanded into Africa, with South Africa as our first country of operation.