Holiday gifts come in all shapes and sizes (we prefer the book-shaped kind), and there’s more than one way to give. Holiday giving is not only about giving gifts, but also about giving back. This year, we’re finding new ways to connect readers with the perfect book to give to friends and family, and to contribute to their local communities. Keep reading to learn more about two of our major holiday campaigns aimed at helping readers give and give back.
Finding Next Reads with the Penguin Hotline
Connecting the right books with the right readers and helping readers discover their next read is a perennial challenge in book publishing, and one we’re focused on at Penguin Random House. Many algorithm-based solutions exist, but nothing can top a personalized recommendation from our employees, who dedicate their work to understanding what makes a reader tick. Enter the limited-time Penguin Hotline holiday initiative—back by popular demand for the third year in a row—where we give personalized suggestions for the readers in your lives. The process is simple: gift-givers go to www.penguinhotline.com and fill out a short form about the recipient, and the Hotline guarantees an informed, customized, and publisher-agnostic set of recommendations written by Penguin Random House employees and emailed back to the consumer.
The hotline returns after successful runs in 2014 and 2015 that involved hundreds of Penguin Random House volunteers, who made thousands of book recommendations to readers worldwide. The Hotline’s 2016 effort launched on November 28 and the site will be open to consumers and their requests through Sunday, December 18.
#GiveaBook and Give Back to your Local Community
This Giving Tuesday, November 29, Penguin Random House gave readers nationwide 5 books each to donate to their local communities through our third annual #GiveaBook holiday campaign. We made it easy for readers to deliver books to kids in need and they responded. Within one day of launching our campaign we surpassed our goal, assigning more than 50,000 books to kids in need across the country through First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides new books and educational resources to children from low-income families. In response, we doubled our contribution to a grand total of 100,000 books, which were all claimed within three days starting on Giving Tuesday.
#GiveABook doesn’t stop with our 100,000 book donation. Now through December 31, 2016, Penguin Random House is tripling the impact of donations made to First Book. Your donation could help provide three times as many books to kids in your local community. First Book can provide a new book to a child in need for just $3. Every $3 donated, online and off, will also be matched with an in-kind donation of two additional books from Penguin Random House.
Thank you for joining us in supporting the next generation of readers, and for celebrating the power of books and reading this holiday giving season.