What if the whole world could read?

Look with me into the future, a future where illiteracy is ancient history. Where learning and education help foster new innovation, help cure this planet of what ails it, and perhaps help foster an era of greater understanding and dare we say, peace? That is my vision and Atypical Publishing can play a key role in helping attain this future.

How? I believe when people are given the ability to read, great things can follow. The world's is less literate today than 25 years ago. The United States used to lead the world in the percentage of high school graduates continuing their education. This is no longer the case. A growing percentage of Americans are either functionally illiterate or illiterate. Over 10% (25+ million) of Americans cannot read or write at all. Another 45+ million are functionally illiterate. Over 412,000 books were published last year (approximately one book published every minute), yet over 44% of American adults did not buy or even READ a single book.

Thomas Jefferson declared, "I cannot live without books". When a person reads, he acquires knowledge. His education continues far beyond formal schooling through reading books. Even those lacking or possessing limited formal education gain knowledge though books. "A human being is not attaining his full heights until he is educated," was so eloquently stated by Horace Mann.

But my vision doesn't stop there! Reading will educate the masses. Thomas Jefferson wrote that an uneducated people cannot for long be a free people. The ancient Greek philosopher, Epictetus made the ultimate affirmation of my point when he said, "Only the educated are free".

Ponder for a minute the alternative. What happens when a people becomes educated? Look to history for guidance. When Gutenberg invented the printing press, books became available for the masses. The underclass over time became literate and Europe was changed from a feudal system to a series of constitutional monarchies and eventually a few republics. Freedom was gained not through the sword or the plow but the BOOK!

Fast forward to today's Peoples Republic of China. Vast numbers of former "workers" are now living with greater freedom. Personal property rights were unthinkable under Mao, but today are in fact a reality. This occurred again not because of a revolution of armed soldiers but through technological advances that allowed ordinary Chinese citizens to gain access to the Worldwide Web and ultimately access to information that they from which they could READ and LEARN.

But consider the young boy in Sudan or the young girl in Afghanistan? Or ponder the homeless child in America today, our inner city youth or the poor in Appalachia? What is their chance to join the global community if they cannot read? But the crisis is far greater than that. How many Albert Einstein's, Stephen Hawkings', Nelson Mandela's, Gandis', and yes, even Obamas' is the world missing? How many of these individuals could make an impact on the world if they were taught the joy of reading and learning?

The goal of achieving global literacy starts at home. So what can one new publishing company accomplish?  A lot!

Atypical Publishing will commit 10% of its profits annually to domestic and international literacy programs. This is just our first step of many more to come! Stay tuned for further details as we proceed with our goal of teaching the world to read.

          I have one question for you, the reader. What will you commit to help global literacy?