By John Mennell
I believe things happen for reason. So, when I was driving to our New Jersey literacy warehouse, and missed my exit, ending up on Route 206 through the heart of Trenton, I abandoned the GPS and went with it.
Magazines and comics bring comfort and hope after the storm
We serve academically at-risk, low income families who cannot afford books and reading materials and do not have access to the internet. We strive to get families reading together. We would appreciate any magazines for Pre-K or K level and also, magazines for adult readers.
— Pennsylvania educator
As we gear up our industry-wide effort to help children, families, schools, and communities rebuild reading resources in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, wishlists like this one above that arrived today are harbingers of the illiteracy storm devastating eager learners in every village in every land.
According to Reading is Fundamental, two-thirds of children in poverty live in homes with zero books. Poor infants hear 30 million fewer words during crucial years for intellectual development. Each night, 35,000 moms and kids have left everything behind to escape to the safety of a domestic abuse shelter, staying for over a month. More than a million U.S. students are homeless today. There are tens of millions of at-risk readers, worldwide.
With titles for every reading age, interest, and language, magazines and comics are the most powerful literacy engines on the planet. We are standing up our global literacy response team to offer comfort and hope, and to help people to begin to rebuild their lives after Hurricane Matthew, and more.
Reading is where it all begins. We have the mission and materials. We have the people and the passion. We need your backing to succeed on the scale matching the enormous literacy need and value that is waiting. Join us now.
Hurricane Matthew
Our hearts and hands are with the millions of Caribbean and American children and families facing unspeakable devastation in the path of Hurricane Matthew. MagazineLiteracy.org will marshal every fiber of our mission to bring comfort. Join us.
Getting reading materials down the last mile into hands, homes, and hearts
Delivery of magazines to the Bethany House of Hospitality location on Hamilton Ave across from Columbus Park in Trenton NJ
Trenton NJ is at the heart of our global literacy promise. Our mission to share favorite magazines sent to us by consumers and publishers relies on spirited community efforts to reach across the last mile and into hands and homes of readers.
Palm Beach high school student iMAGines literacy at local shelters and makes it so
High school student Rujul Bharadwaj in Palm Beach, Florida is a young man on a literacy mission – a citizen of the world who iMAGines the way things can be and makes them so. Vinod Khosla, a trailblazing founder of Silicon Valley’s Sun Microsystems, says he lives by the philosophy, “Whatever I believe, I should make happen.”
Continue reading “Palm Beach high school student iMAGines literacy at local shelters and makes it so”Upcycling magazines and comics to at-risk readers for INDEPENDENCE every DAY
In America today, we are celebrating our freedom and self-determination. To survive in our world, each human needs food, water, shelter, and literacy. Reading is where it all begins. Literacy is the catalyst for human dignity, productivity, prosperity, collaboration, civility, and community.
Literacy ends poverty. In the U.S. alone, there are over 40 million at-risk readers with little or no access to useful reading materials. According to Reading is Fundamental, two-thirds of children in poverty – over 12 million kids and their families – have zero books at home where reading habits take hold – zero.
Worldwide, hundreds of millions of people lack access to reading materials. With titles and rich content in words and pictures for every reading age, interest, and language, magazines and comics are the most powerful literacy engines on the planet. Over 360 million magazines are printed each month worldwide, enough to erase this deficit.
MagazineLiteracy.org works in partnership with publishers and consumers to rescue and upcycle magazines and comics for delivery to at-risk readers via foodbanks and food pantries, homeless and domestic violence shelters, youth mentoring and job trainig programs, and foster care. This is our moonshot – standing up the largest humanitarian literacy marketplace on Earth.
For happy independence every day, join us to iMAGine what’s possible, and make it so.
This long walk from Trenton NJ delivers literacy to Jamaican school children
This year, our theme, “Steps to Advance Literacy,” serves two purposes: We’re focusing on Jamaica—a small island where big things happen—and bringing awareness to the distance students in some countries must travel each day just to get to school.
— International Literacy Association
The International Literacy Association is getting ready to celebrate the United Nations International Literacy Day on September 8th with a focus on school children in Jamaica. Every journey, no matter how far, begins with first steps. This story began at a food pantry in Trenton NJ many years ago when Lorraine Smith, a world citizen and literacy champion with an unstoppable heart, welcomed magazines from MagazineLiteracy.org to feed children and families hungry to read. Lorraine dreamed of supplying reading materials to the children attending the school in Jamaica that she attended as a child. She founded Solutions For U and, to honor her mother, embarked on this mission accomplished to fill a barrel with Highlights for Kids magazines delivered into the eager hands of children at her childhood school. Lorraine is already planning to reach more children in more schools. iMAGine what’s possible and make it so! Join us.
Literacy roadtrip for summer reading
Today we are celebrating the incredible mastery of children’s illustrator Aja Mulford who created this beautiful poster for our literacy roadtrip campaign.
Our Madison office is prepping magazines for a trip to 1,200 California kids and teens in 18 locations in time for summer reading when academic gains are at greatest risk.
After that, we will ready 100,000 Highlights for Children, National Geographic, Guideposts, Teen Vogue, Scholastic, TIME, Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith Corporation, and more great mags for eager at-risk readers via foodbanks, shelters, youth mentoring, job training, and foster care programs from our Trenton warehouse to Boston, NYC, Pilly, Baltimore, DC, Richmond, and Atlanta.
We need your help to get it done. Join us.
Reading is where it all begins. iMAGine what’s possible and make it so.
TO: Mommy – Twelve million kids don't own a single book in their house
By Rose Ayar
12 million children. Twelve million kids don’t own a single book in their house, and that’s only in the United States.
When the founder of this program, John Mennell, told me and the other volunteers just how many people don’t have the privilege of books, I felt determined. Determined to change that number of kids and people.
Jacque Howard iMAGines news boxes as libraries for Trenton and makes it so
Trenton New Jersey is a place where ideas and events that change the world spring to life – often snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. The America of today was born on a cold winter day in Trenton against all odds by the unflinching will of George Washington. Terracycle, an early friend of MagazineLiteracy.org, was founded by Tom Szaky on the premise of turning worm waste into liquid fertilizer sold in recycled soda bottles, and now upcycles millions of consumer packages collected from schools and stores into new products for homes and industries.
Continue reading “Jacque Howard iMAGines news boxes as libraries for Trenton and makes it so”Magazines for youth mentoring form bonds that last a lifetime
Scholastic and College Mentors for Kids partner to launch young dreams.
Illiteracy means you cannot read to your child, or read instructions from your doctor, or a job application, or web page. Adults unable to read where once children who didn’t learn how. Children unable to read are quickly lost in school, unable to do well in any subject. Youth mentoring at programs like College Mentors for Kids is a powerful way to break the cycle.
With titles for every reading age and interest, magazines like Scholastic are enormously powerful literacy engines for youth mentoring at College Mentors for Kids and Boys & Girls Clubs, and boatbuilders like Rocking the Boat in the Bronx, and golf and tennis mentoring programs, like Tenacity in Boston. Magazines can help to break the ice between a mentor and their young person, forming a bond around common interests and experiences, delivered into their hands by magazine stories and images that can transport readers anywhere in the world and beyond.
We all know our favorite magazines as children, teens, and adults. The magazines we read during our formative years engage us with impressions that last a lifetime, guiding our journey to reach beyond our dreams and achieve our fullest potential. Our mission at MagazineLiteracy.org is about sharing that possibility with at-risk readers.
At 33 university and college campuses, College Mentors for Kids helps first- through sixth-graders understand the importance of education, foster the value of diversity, and show children how to give back to the community.
Reading is Fundamental says that most children and families in poverty have zero books at home. We welcome Scholastic magazine in our global quest to wipe out illiteracy and poverty by supporting vital youth mentoring programs like College Mentors for Kids that put reading materials into hands, homes, and hearts.
Reading is where it all begins. Join us.
Tennessee road trip yields magazines for kids and teens – and a new friend
By John Mennell
On the way back home from the Nashville Country Living Fair, I traveled near enough to a magazine recycler to make a personal pick-up. At its core, our global literacy project is about making connections between people who love to read their favorite magazines and then share them with new readers. This beautiful collection from Michele will go to children and teens via our food pantry and shelter newsstands. Michele explained her own fond memories of reading magazines like these as a child and teen, and how pleased she is to share them with others. Our project is made possible by these simple acts of kindness that can change the life of another young reader forever. Thank you Michele for your generous support. Reading is where it all begins.
Celebrating Children's Illustrator Aja Mulford
We are celebrating Aja Mulford – a fabulously talented children’s illustrator who is helping to bring MagazineLiteracy.org to life. Aja’s work is so fresh and colorful. We are very excited about this collaboration and the wonderful possibilities. Stay tuned.
Mr. Magazine Keeps the Flame Launching a Thousand Ships Burning Bright in Every Harbor
A dear friend to so many, and most beloved voice on planet Earth for the magazines we cherish – Samir Husni aka Mr. Magazine – founder of the Ole Miss Magazine Innovation Center – is gearing up for the Act 6 Experience from April 20 – 22. Samir’s passion is to amplify the power of print magazines in our lives.
Continue reading “Mr. Magazine Keeps the Flame Launching a Thousand Ships Burning Bright in Every Harbor”Earth Month: Largest literacy market on the planet opens to feed a million at-risk readers by International Literacy Day
Magazine Lovers Seed Largest Free Literacy Market on Earth
Media Release and Images
Trenton, NJ — Celebrating Earth Month on April 30 and May 1, MagazineLiteracy.org will open the world’s largest free literacy market in Trenton, New Jersey, Columbus, Ohio, and Madison, Wisconsin, stocked with recycled magazines supplied by publishers and consumers to feed a million eager at-risk readers by the United Nation’s International Literacy Day. Literacy programs will be able to shop for reading materials at no cost.
Caroline strikes literacy gold
Today I collected 200 magazines from people in my community. I have a few Highlights too! The entire bin is filled with magazines in bags. I can barely lift it!
— Caroline, Olentangy Liberty H.S.
When Caroline, a junior at Olentangy Liberty High School outside Columbus Ohio, volunteered to be a MagazineLiteracy.org ambassador, she got right to work prospecting magazines in her neighborhood, and quickly struck literacy gold.
Why give House Beautiful to a homeless person or Cooking Light to a hungry person
by John Mennell
FAQ: Why give Conde Nast Traveler or House Beautiful or Veranda magazine or Architectural Digest to a homeless person or to a family in a transitional housing program? Why give Cooking Light magazine or Food Network Magazine to a hungry person or soup kitchen newsstand? Why give Inc. magazine or Fast Company to an unemployed reader, or travel magazines to the homebound?
The woman and man who went up a literacy hill and came down a mountain
By John Mennell
This is the true story about a woman and a man who built a mountain of a million magazines for literacy in Trenton, New Jersey. Tell the world.
Zoom around these photos to see the reason magazines are the most powerful literacy engines on the planet

Beautiful magazines for literacy, as far as the eye can see. Just in time for Earth Month, these photos illustrates the raison d’être for MagazineLiteracy.org – with titles for every reading age, interest, and language, magazines and comics are the most powerful literacy engines on the planet.
Continue reading “Zoom around these photos to see the reason magazines are the most powerful literacy engines on the planet”Like Johnny Appleseed's orchards, a Literacy Market sprouts in Columbus Ohio to feed people hungry to read
Today, with long-time friend Yogesh Ganesan, and generous supplies of beautiful reading materials from consumers, Highlights, Conde Nast, and many other publishers, we open our Columbus Ohio Literacy Market.
These wonderful periodicals are just in from Conde Nast HQ in NYC and Highlights right here in Columbus, and available at no cost for at-risk readers via food pantries, mentoring, job training, homeless and domestic abuse shelters, and foster care.
We are seeking agencies interested in receiving this first supply. Many more will follow. What are your dreams? For some it’s a chicken in every pot. For MagazineLiteracy.org, it’s reading materials in every hand and home – our mission is to share the joy of reading while ending illiteracy and poverty.
Reading is Fundamental says that most poor children and families have zero books – it’s shocking. We can fix that today! Each night 35,000 moms, many with children, leave everything behind to seek safety in a domestic abuse shelter. Help us find them and comfort and empower them. There are 1 million homeless students in our schools in every community – join with us to give them hope for a better tomorrow.
Every journey, no matter how grand or far, begins with a single step, followed by another, then more. These first boxes of beautiful magazines mark our first steps in Columbus Ohio. Walk with us and tell the world!
These 1st – 4th Graders are College Bound
Magazine and comic book readers are enthusiasts about the titles that they read, which reflect the active interests that they are passionate about. This is why inserting magazines and comics into a mentoring relationship is so powerful – helping to break the ice and form a bond around common interests.
Continue reading “These 1st – 4th Graders are College Bound”Eye to eye in a perfect storm, Doug Forrestal at Ryleco Displays never flinched in the face of our enormous humanitarian opportunity
Doug Forrestal and Greg Barber
As the eye of Hurricane Sandy was bearing down for its devastating landfall on New Jersey and Long Island and points north, MagazineLiteracy.org was laying the groundwork for creating the largest free literacy market in the world – this was our dream, our moonshot. We set a goal to receive a million magazines for literacy by Earth Day. Next week, we celebrate the United Nation’s International Literacy Day and our anniversary with over a million magazines in hand.
Two girls and a mom assemble magazine literacy bundles for school children in India
by John Mennell
Chloe and her mom have invited friends like Dina over to the MagazineLiteracy.org Global Literacy Outreach Center in Madison, WI to help sort and bundle magazines and comics for delivery to readers near and far. With your help, these wonderful magazine gifts will be airlifted half-way around the world to school children in India.
Community Support Network lives by its name
by Murray Snyder
By opening their arms and hearts to us, the Community Support Network has taken our literacy mission to a whole new level – it’s game-changing.
Wisconsin students support global magazine literacy operations
by Kristin Benz
Kristin Benz runs a program at Waunakee High School that provides hands-on vocational training to students with developmental disabilities. MagazineLiteracy.org has had the pleasure and privilege to work with these students for the past three years who are supporting operations at our Global Literacy Outreach Center in Madison, WI, and with many others in similar programs for children and adults. The young people assist with mission critical magazine sorting and data entry to support delivery of reading materials to eager readers via food pantry newsstands, mentoring, job training, and other community literacy programs. Kristin’s report is a model for replication in any school or community. iMAGine the possibilities and join us.
My students with disabilities have learned a great deal of vocational skills through working with the MagazineLiteracy.org program. First they sort the magazines, then they have to count them.
Some of my students have been able to go farther and work on data entry. They are able to enter the magazine donor’s mailing information, as well as other information on the packaging into a database used to keep track of inventory and to thank supporters.
In addition to the work skills that students are learning, they are also learning about volunteering and helping other people.