NEW YORK: Scholastic is conducting the “One Million Bookprints for One Million Books” campaign to extend the reach of its donation efforts. The initiative is emphasizing the importance of giving children access to books.
A primary goal of the campaign is to amplify Scholastic's “You Are What You Read” microsite, which launched last year, said Kyle Good, SVP of corporate communications at the company. The site has more than 20,000 "bookprints," or listings of five books that have impacted the lives of children and adults around the world, as well as celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres, Tommy Hilfiger, and Al Roker.
For every bookprint posted, Scholastic Book Clubs will donate a new book to a child in need through its national school-readiness initiative “Reach Out and Read,” Good added.
"We're shooting our way to a million bookprints," she explained. "We already have people from 150 countries. People average almost 15 minutes of time on the site, which is really a lot of engagement. We've had 300,000 unique visitors to the site. We're off to a good start, and we just want to convince people to come on and share their bookprint, and help us give a million books to Reach Out and Read."
Scholastic's in-house PR team is handling the effort, which is expected to run through next spring, explained Good. Its media-relations strategy includes outreach to fashion, entertainment, and sports publications, as well as to schools through monthly book-club flyers and tie-ins with Scholastic's popular titles, such as Clifford the Big Red Dog and The Hunger Games. Celebrity spokesperson Whoopi Goldberg has also mentioned the initiative on The View.
The company is also promoting the campaign through its corporate blog, Facebook, and Twitter, as well as publishing internal bookprints.
Scholastic's external media relations and social media team has 11 members, added Good.
