Let’s Read Project: Reading Opportunities For Children In Myanmar

An initiative that builds reading opportunities for children in Myanmar – Let’s Read Project was officially launched in Yangon on Tuesday.

It is The Asia Foundation’s collaborative approach with Myanmar’s Ministry of Information, Myanmar Library Association and local children’s book publisher Third Story Project. Let’s Read is already accessible in 9 Asian countries through website and mobile app. It aims to overcome children’s book scarcity in Asia, to foster publishing ecosystems and to inspire reading habits that help children, families and communities thrive.

Manager, Special Projects Unit (The Asia Foundation), Mi Ki Kyaw Myint said “The project offers local context based children books. It is a free digital plattform. It allows users to download, share and print books. There are 5 reading levels. Let’s Read mainly targets at children of aged between 7 and 14.”

There is high demand for reading materials in Myanmar but only 4% of the nation’s 53 million children have books in their home. The Asia Foundation’s free digital library offers 2,300 books in 23 languages including Myanmar, Rakhine, Chin and Kachin with plans to add additional titles and languages as the project grows. The Let’s Read Myanmar collection includes stories written and illustrated by Myanmar book creators and translation of books created by Asia communities.

Manager, Special Projects Unit (The Asia Foundation), Mi Ki Kyaw Myint said “We’ll soon introduce Let’s Read to school libraries in cooperation with the Ministry of Education. Training on children literature for book creaters and editors will be provided as well. More books will be added over time and continue to build up capacities for meaningful reading habits.”

In collaboration with Myanmar Library Assocation, Let’s Read will be introduced to libraries across the country over the next 6 months and editor and writer workshops will also be held to help develop local book creators’ capacity.