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Week 2 [12-18.10.2015] Library builder's monument of books

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Read/watch the presentation Library builder's monument of books published at http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34465031 and comment on/discuss it here.

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Unknown said…
It's a very nice article. I think education is very important and people everywhere should be able to access all the knowledge that people have gathered. We take education for granted but kids in third world countries see it as a privilege.

A couple of months ago there was an uplifting story about a boy in Utah that had to read junk mail because he didn't have any books. Anyway people all over the world sent him books and now he has over 500.

http://myfox8.com/2015/07/29/boy-who-reads-junk-mail-receives-thousands-of-books-thanks-to-mailmans-facebook-plea/
15 October 2015 at 21:24
Patrycja Marciniak said…
Child education is really, really important. The more children we educate, the wiser society would be in a few years. Moreover, education gives children a chance to have a better job in the future, so in a way it decreases poverty.

It's also a great thing that Room to Read not only does provide books, but also publishes the new ones in the local languages, employs local authors, illustrators and publishers. It's a very responsible way to help!
16 October 2015 at 10:44
Unknown said…
I think it is really great initiative. In my opinion it is wonderful way to teach children one of the most important skill - reading - as soon as possible (not every kid can do this in Africa, what's really sad!). Besides it we educate them, because everything what they read has some important knowledge that they can gather. Thanks to this idea of creating libraries they can count on better future, job possibilities and so on. I really hope it helps.
16 October 2015 at 12:00
Cezary Góralski said…
I admire people who in rush to success finally found something more important than only money and career. I guess he found himself in place, where he is financially safe and can do something for people in need. In the internet we can find multiple offers of donations for charity. But I hardly believe that all of them are real and donated money really goes to people in need.

As much as I would like to help it is not so easy to leave everything and go to the Africa. I think that books are important but we can see that there are other problems like access to water. It is important to create more non-profit organisations, everyone can support them and spend even few hours in week.
17 October 2015 at 11:26
Unknown said…
I admire such initiatives and the people who embody them in life.
Living in Europe, with access to knowledge in various forms, we did not even think about the problems faced by countries such as those described in the article. This type of initiatives are a necessity in underdeveloped countries to increase awareness of the people, stimulate them to act, to understand that education should be an important part of everyone's life.

Thanks to people like Mr Wood world becomes a better place.
17 October 2015 at 15:53
Aleksandra Grigorian said…
I didn't know that such initiative existed, it's a great idea and so on. It's a noble and admirable cause, it's obvious that we should fight illiteracy by all means and of course I agree that girls should have the same access to education as boys.
I'm glad that something like this happens, every human being deserves it, but to be honest the article didn't trigger any major emotions in me. It's not something that concerns me or people around me and all I could think about after reading this article was "ok, great".
I may sound selfish but oh well...
18 October 2015 at 14:10
Unknown said…
Great article. It’s really good to hear about people involved in non-governmental organisation. Because they work with passion their actions are highly efficient. It’s important to provide appropriate conditions for children who want to learn, because it can lead them to be a better individuals in the future.
18 October 2015 at 14:22
Unknown said…
Thanks to this article you will gain faith in people. With such great people like John Wood children who do not have to learn how they can develop as children in developed countries. Education is very important for human development. Not everyone, however, is data to be born in a country where going to school is normal, and education is considered to be an obligation. Children in Europe often do not appreciate.
Reading very develops the imagination, not to mention the development of language (vocabulary, grammar). It is amazing that some people are able to devote their careers and other things to help other people.
18 October 2015 at 14:25
Unknown said…
Pleasant article. I'm always impressed by people who are brave enough to quit their current (often comfortable) lifestyle to achieve such noble goals. I mean, this requires a lot of willpower and determination, doesn't it? It's really great that there are still people willing to do focus their lives on helping others.

I'm very pleased to hear that Room to Read published books written by local authors and in native languages. Supporting local culture is extremely important.
18 October 2015 at 17:32
Unknown said…
Great article! I admire everyone who is helping other, especially kids. Very often it involves changing the whole lifestale - which is not easy. I have a friend who after studies (he is a doctor) he left everything and went to Nepal, just to heal people living there. Personally i believe, that we can achieve a lot, but the greatest joy is giving someting to those, who cant give you anything in return. So people like my friend are the most happy people in the world.
18 October 2015 at 18:46
Unknown said…
Thanks for article. I love to read about people who selflessly help others. What is the best, action Room to Read doesn't give a one-time assistance but it will be helping children for many years in education and development.
Thanks to these organizations, children from poor regions have a greater chance for a better future.
18 October 2015 at 18:48
Sebastian Żakowski said…
The need for investment in underdeveloped areas in the world is essential for increasing literacy rates in the world. Nepal and other regions I the world suffer from underinvestment in education. Books are thus essential in this process to increase reading habits and are a good bridge between technology and knowledge. Books can never be replaced. They are the source of information and imagination. A philanthropic approach sometimes is the only solution to help remote areas to reach the digital age. In my opinion books are physical objects timeless and priceless.
18 October 2015 at 19:58
Kit said…
I'm genuinely impressed by this organization and its cause.
I'm not sure about content of these libraries, I hope it includes all kinds of books - not just the children's books or fiction stories, but also some know-hows and science books.
This article is a real eye-opener, in our case it is easy to forget, that not everyone have access to information. This reminds me of the Google Balloon project.
https://www.google.com/loon/ - I hope it will work. The access to information is, and should be a basic human right, and the global Internet is the best way to achieve it.
18 October 2015 at 20:57
Unknown said…
In developed countries like US or european countries people appreciate valuable of reading books and education.
While reading, kids learn many useful and interesting things, branch out and also
explore the paper world. Educated children evolve into better payed and more valuable employee.
I really admire people like Mr Woods who knows that it's better to give a fishing pole, not a fish.
They spend whole their live helping but everyone can help with less efford. We can sometimes skip
go for a beer or to cinema and transfer this money for some charity. It's not a big price for a better and more transparent world.
18 October 2015 at 21:06
Unknown said…
It is really great that there are people that are ready to introduce others to knowledge and the awesome possibility to develop themselves. Such projects should be supported more massively and not only in poor regions, at the moment we face the problem when people will prefer movie or series to the book, I understand that not everyone has this passion for reading, however, there are a lot of literature that could be useful for a person as for professional.
Such projects is a possibilities for people in different regions and states to be introduced to the knowledge or at least to see different perspectives on the numerous questions.
18 October 2015 at 21:07
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
18 October 2015 at 21:46
Unknown said…


It is hot for the heart when I read article like this. I have never heard about Mr Wood, but he seems to be very inspiring man. He had a great idea and he has huge heart, although he says: " I was focused on myself, on my career, and on how much money I could sock away in my bank account." Great that he had initiated create school library in Nepal. It is very important and it is huge chance for the local community.
It is great and precious that this organisation is working in 10 countries now.
Great interpretation Mr Wood's about "non-governmental organisation" :)
Gender equality in education- ok, but gender equality in real life- never. It isn't possible.
Great article. Thanks for it. Thanks to article I knew about this charity action, which I totally promote and I'm glad that people like Mr Wood exist.
18 October 2015 at 21:51
Paulina Zabokrzycka said…
The initiative is really admirable and the story of the Locked Cabinet is very touching. It is good that wealthy people try to do charity work in their spare time or even quit their jobs and devote their lives completely to help the less fortunate. I think it is good that it is advertised - it makes people think and maybe support their initiatives. I like watching some touching campaigns such as the one in which a WATERisLIFE (a nonprofit organisation) helps a 4-year-old Kenyan boy to fulfill his dreams as an action to rise awareness that many children don't make it to their fifth birthday because they don't have access to drinkable water. Here's a link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/08/kenya-bucket-list_n_3721210.html
Also, I think that adressing the problem of illiteracy and limited access to education in underdeveloped countries is really important.
18 October 2015 at 22:19
Unknown said…
Everybody knows how education is important.
This article describes how an idea of one Microsoft’s former employee evolved into development of education in poor countries. One man, making non-profit organization gave an opportunity and access to books, which 3rd countries cannot even imagine of.
I really support those kind of movement, If I had chance I would surely help in that idea.
18 October 2015 at 22:50
Unknown said…
Yes I agree with you. Children are the most important, and they can in the future change the world for the better place if they get the chance learning. Thanks to these organizations we see that not only money is important.
18 October 2015 at 23:09
Unknown said…
John Wood, the founder of Room to Read NPO is a hero. It's the only word you can call a person who quits his job and in fact whole life to help others. He not only provided money to Books for Nepal project (which later evolved into Room to Read) but he single handed run the whole thing in its early stages. After his first trip to Nepal, in 1998, when he saw a school with 450 children and only a handful of books, when he was told by school's headmaster "Perhaps, sir, you will someday come back with books" he really did it a year later. John Wood with a help of Zak the Yak delivered and donated 3.000 books to the aforementioned school. And it was just a beginning. As we read in the article Room to Read NPO is now operating not only in Nepal but also in many African and Asian countries. In addition they deliver not just books, they deliver The Books translated to local languages even most exotic ones. Everybody should always remember about Mr Woods work and try to do something of similar impact in his life. At least I'll do so.
18 October 2015 at 23:37
Unknown said…
It's always nice to see people this kind of charity. We often take things for granted and can't wrap our head around a school library with three books in it when most of us have more books stacked on a pile in our bathrooms. It's also good to know that sometimes those realizations come to people with a lot of money. However, I think that any one of us could make a difference and help a cause like that - a single Microsoft CEO makes for a nice headline, but 3,000 books is not a lot, and if more people - even without money - would help such a cause, they could easily gather 30,000 books without waiting a year for our next vacation trip to nepal.
18 October 2015 at 23:55
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