Scribd Invites Millions to ‘Read For A Cause’

Deepak Chopra, Justin Halpern, Tony Hawk, Craig Newmark, Eric Ripert
& Other Celebrities Share Their Reading Lists to Benefit Global Literacy

SAN FRANCISCO—Nov. 15, 2010—Scribd, the world’s largest social reading and
publishing site, today announced Read For A Cause, a year-long social reading
campaign designed to draw attention to global literacy. The program enlists the help of
celebrity featured readers and encourages millions of others to share their reading lists
or donate directly to aid in the building of at least three libraries in India.

Well known thinkers, writers and influencers, including New York Times bestselling
author Deepak Chopra; “Sh*t My Dad Says” Twitter sensation and bestselling author
Justin Halpern; skateboarding icon Tony Hawk; respected journalist and national
correspondent, The Atlantic, James Fallows; Internet entrepreneur and Craigslist
founder Craig Newmark; celebrity chef, host of PBS’s Avec Eric and Top Chef judge
Eric Ripert; longtime psychosexual therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer; and CEO and
President of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF Caryl Stern will share their recommendations
on the best books, poems, research and other written works they read for inspiration
and entertainment.

Anyone can access the celebrities’ reading lists for free on

www.scribd.com/readforacause. They can also choose to Readcast the collections,
create their own or donate directly to Room to Read, a global non-profit that builds
physical reading centers for children inaround tved communities all over the world.
Scribd’s Read For A Cause program will raise money for Room to Read, helping to
bring books and other material to thousands of children who desperately need them.

“Words have magical power. Language not only describes reality, it creates reality.
Language, imagination and creativity are the keys to transforming the world,” said
Deepak Chopra, a featured reader. “Introducing literacy programs in India is the fastest
way to eradication of poverty and creating a peaceful, just, sustainable and healthy
nation.”

Over the next year, Scribd will highlight readings lists from other celebrity featured
readers, including:

• Lee Child, bestselling author of Jack Reacher book series

• Danny Chun, head writer for NBC’s “The Office”
• Jeffery Deaver, bestselling thriller author, master of the mind game, and
author of the upcoming 2011 James Bond novel
• Tim Ferriss, author of international bestseller “The 4-Hour Workweek”
• Fannie Flagg, New York Times bestselling author and screenwriter best-
known for Fried Green Tomatoes. Her latest novel is I Still Dream About You
• Sir James Galway, internationally renowned classical flutist
 

• Louis (Lou) Gossett Jr., Academy Award winner, “An Officer and a
Gentleman”
• Paul Graham, venture capitalist and co-founder of Y Combinator
• Sara Gruen, New York Times bestselling author of Water for Elephants and
Ape House
• Joi Ito, entrepreneur, venture capitalist and chief executive officer of Creative
Commons
• Sophie Kinsella, New York Times bestselling author of the Shopaholic series,
including her latest Mini Shopaholic
• Erik Larson, Edgar Award-winning author and contributor to TIME and the
Wall Street Journal
• Jennifer 8. Lee, author, journalist and Knight News Challenge consultant
• Jonathan Maberry, multiple
Bram
Stoker
award‐winning
author
of
Ghost
Road

Blues
and
Rot
&
Ruin
• Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of social news website Reddit, started the
breadpig revolution, gave a TED talk about a whale named Mr. Splashy Pants,
and loves falafel
• Craig Silverstein, director of technology at Google
• Scott Westerfeld, young
adult
and
science
fiction
author
of
the
Uglies
series
and

Leviathan
trilogy
• John Wood, founder and chairman of Room to Read

“An educated and informed global community is a cause that’s close to all our hearts,”
said Trip Adler, CEO and co-founder at Scribd. “People are already enacting change
through the power of the social web, and we hope that everyone who learns about this
program will join our amazing group of celebrity influencers to spread the word.”

To learn more about Read For A Cause and see reading lists from participating celebrities,
please visit www.scribd.com/readforacause.
About Scribd
Scribd is the largest social reading and publishing site in the world with more than 60
million readers each month. We’ve made it incredibly simple for anyone to share and
discover informative, entertaining and original written content on the web and mobile
devices. Our mission is to liberate the written word, to connect people and
organizations with the information and ideas that matter most to them. Our innovative
HTML5 document reader technology has lowered the barriers to publishing by
enabling anyone to easily upload and share their work in any file format. Scribd is a
venture-backed company based in San Francisco. For more information, please visit
http://www.scribd.com/about.