Every year, one of the most anticipated days in our communities is book delivery day. Parents, teachers, and children gather with excitement as stacks of colorful, engaging, and culturally relevant books arrive to fill classroom libraries. For many children, it’s the first time they hold a book of their own. For parents, it’s a proud reminder that their investment in their children’s education is opening doors to opportunity.
That excitement is at the heart of our Classroom Library Program, launched in 2012. Since then, we’ve established 1,025 classroom libraries across Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama—bringing the joy of reading into schools where, not long ago, there were no books at all.
Our library program is built on a simple but powerful idea: when parents and communities invest in schools, change lasts. Through a five-year matching model, families raise funds for new books, and School the World contributes a scaled match. In the first year, every dollar raised by the community is matched five times. Each year the match decreases, encouraging families to take on a greater role. By year five, schools are fully sustaining their libraries—and many choose to continue adding books at discounted rates long after.
This shared investment builds not only well-stocked libraries but also a deeper sense of pride, ownership, and accountability within the community.
We believe that lasting change begins when children have the right environment to learn, teachers have the tools to teach, and parents are empowered as partners in education. Classroom libraries play a critical role in that vision: they make reading possible, they make learning joyful, and they make education something the whole community values.
Already, we see the difference:
Children are reading more in the classroom.
Parents are proud to contribute to their child’s future.
Communities are proving that they can invest in education—and sustain it.
Teachers see it too. As one Guatemalan teacher shared:
“Reading has transformed my classroom. My students have a broader vocabulary, use their imagination, and even write their own stories. Every morning we dedicate time to reading, and I see improvements not only in fluency and comprehension, but also in spelling and handwriting. The excitement of Book Delivery Day creates so much joy, and our library has grown into a resource that supports learning across the school. This program has enriched our classrooms and helped parents see the importance of reading.”
—Pedro Mendoza, Teacher, Guatemala
The impact of this work reaches far beyond one classroom or one community. As UNESCO reminds us:
“171 million people would be lifted out of poverty if all students in low-income countries left school with basic reading skills.”
On this National Literacy Day, we celebrate more than the books delivered—we celebrate the energy, pride, and possibility they bring to our communities. Together with parents and local leaders, we are helping children not only learn to read but also imagine new futures.
Because when a child learns to read, a community begins to write its own story. Join our monthly Book Club donor program and support this Classroom Library initiative.