Room to Read

We partner with local communities throughout the developing world to provide quality educational opportunities by establishing libraries, creating local language children's literature, constructing schools, and providing education to girls. We seek to intervene early in the lives of children in the belief that education empowers people to improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries and future generations. Through the opportunities that only education can provide, we strive to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time.

Can I volunteer or teach in a country in which you work?

Room to Read does not offer overseas volunteer opportunities. Our model is one of empowering the local people to work to create change. As much as we respect organizations like Habitat for Humanity, we do not rely on the model of people from outside the community coming in to help with the work. For instance, we ask the village residents to help build the schools, we rely on teachers who grew up in the countries where we work, and we hire local staff to implement our work in a given country.

We do have many volunteer fundraisers around the world in places such as Hong Kong, London and Singapore. If you are interested in fundraising for Room to Read and you do not live in the United States, please complete a volunteer application and send it to volunteer @ roomtoread.org.

If you are interested in volunteering overseas, here are some websites that might be of interest:
Idealist: www.idealist.org
Escape Artist: www.escapeartist.com
Himalayan Explorers Club: www.hec.org

Volunteer Opportunities

• Join the Room to Read Buzz List
  Once you fill out the Volunteer Application (Microsoft Word, 37kB) and send it to volunteer@roomtoread.org, you will automatically be added to the Room to Read Buzz List. As a member of the Buzz List, you will receive 6-12 emails per year with suggestions on ways to help spread the word about Room to Read.
• Introduce Room to Read to a foundation, corporation or publisher that might be interested in supporting our work
  Do you have connections within a corporation or foundation that might be interested in funding our work? Can you introduce Room to Read to a publisher that would be interested in supporting us? If so, complete our Volunteer Application (Microsoft Word, 37kB) and send it to volunteer @ roomtoread.org and include this information in the application. One of our staff members will respond to you about the potential partnership.
• Start a chapter
  Are you interested in a long-term volunteer commitment to Room to Read? Learn more about our chapters on our Chapters page.
• Help out at a chapter event
  Our chapters organize regular events and rely on the support of Room to Read volunteers to make the event successful. If there is a chapter in your area, chapter leaders will be in touch via email for any potential volunteering opportunities.
• Hold a fundraising event
  Invite your friends, colleagues and family to your own fundraising party. Download our Fundraising Event Kit (Adobe PDF, 588kB) to get started!
• Organize a Fundraising Appeal
  Are you running a marathon and want to raise money for Room to Read? In lieu of gifts for your birthday or wedding, are you asking guests to make donations to Room to Read? Download our Appeal Kit (Adobe PDF, 421kB) to make it happen!
• Arrange a read-a-thon at your child's school or your Book Club to raise money for Room to Read.
  Read-a-thons are an excellent way to involve your child's school. Read more about how to do a read-a-thon on our Students Helping Students page.
• Organize a Book Drive at your workplace
  Ask your colleagues to help you collect new children's books that will be placed in Room to Read libraries. Download our Book Drive Kit (Adobe PDF, 16MB) to get started!