Social impact publishing

Social Impact Publishers (SIP) are mission based publishers that are committed to the social goal of a literate society where everyone can access books, read for meaning and reach their full potential. These organizations recognize that education offers social mobility and they see the number of children’s reading and story books, either in a home or at school, as key for measure for children's future attainment.
Social impact publishers recognise how technology has made it much easier and cheaper to create and enable access to local stories. They make use of a "value network" to re-configure traditional publishing. SIPs combine collective assets, publishing capabilities and alternate approaches to release new forms of value. These publisher's use different techniques. Some rely on crowdsourcing to professionally produce reading materials and/or self-publish books in various formats and turn to open licensing frameworks, such as Creative Commons, to open up access to notable local issues.. These open licenses permit these alternate publishers to share data, images, and text freely.
Books at home is used as a measure of economic status and a predictor of future educational success across the globe. However, books, in the majority world, such books are often not available in vernacular languages, or the paper-based reading materials are prohibitively expensive.
SIP publishers are active in contexts where bookselling is uncommon, or where the bookchain fails to address the demand for suitable reading materials or limit authors' publishing opportunities. These publisher's motivation consider how "books" might enable the teaching of basic skills, knowledge, values and practices...in a manner that respects children’s dignity and background". SIP considers how to enable epistemological access in schools, are comfortable with a variety of modes (eg books, mobile or open platforms This is seen by government and the general public as the solution. Social publishers differ. They identify the failure to provide suitable early reading books at home as a key cause of children’s inability to read at grade-level expectations. They also consider multiple factors (language, teacher background, the school, parents and community that influence reading development. Social impact publishers seek to address elite enclosure and by using innovative technologies and production approaches, it is possible for children to have access to books that that reflect their home language and culture. While bookshops and libraries cater to the reading needs of urban middle-class children, the commercial book chain does not cater sufficiently for vernacular readers in the majority world. The ongoing faith in the "culture of reading" is unjustified and should be seen as empty rhetoric.
How SIPs work
Social publishers take a prosumer approach, they encourage both reading and contributions to the book chain. SIP Projects share, inform and empower those who strive for a literate society. Social impact publishers make use social mechanisms (networks, social media, word of mouth etc) to accomplish their goals. They rely on social subsidies/donations/grants/goodwill to support their efforts. While the commercial book chain is driven by markets and profit is generated through the sale of published books, social publishers focus on sustainability, concerned about how those living in regions with an acute shortage of books can learn how to read. Some distribute SIP books monthly (see Dolly Parton and her Imagination Library ). Others sponsor an online repository which enables global access(see Storyweaver). Other social impact publishers, like Book Dash, operationalise alternate models for book creation and document the model . Or use apps to enable community translation, (see African Storybook ). Social impact publishers should not be confused with self-publishing. Profits are not generated by selling books or selling services. SIP relies on crowdsourcing and IP generosity.
African Storybook (ASb)
The African Storybook's goal is to make the case for the importance of multilingual literature for children and fostering pleasure reading as a key foundation for early literacy, and fostering pleasure reading as a key foundation for early literacy. This community translation initiative is intended to address a shortage of children's storybooks in the languages of Africa. The ASb project is run by SAIDE.
Bookdash
Bookdash has a goal that every child will own 100 story books by the time they turn 5 This social impact publisher (SIP) works with volunteer creatives, who work in a team to produce beautiful and professional picture books. Book Dash is a project associated with Electric Book Works
Storyweaver
Storyweaver have an online repository intended to permit children to read books in their home or vernacular language. In 2023 Storyweaver was awarded The OE Global 2023 Open Assets Awards for their Open Curation / Repository Storyweaver is associated with Pratham Books

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