Children's book launching ceremony

Room to Read Sri Lanka is an international NGO, headquartered in San Francisco, USA. Registered under the Ministry of Social Welfare and Women's Empowerment, it was founded to provide under-privileged children with an opportunity to gain the lifelong gift of education.

Room to Read believes that education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty and taking control of one's own life. At global level its efforts are focused in several countries in Asia and Africa. In Sri Lanka, within a year of operations, Room to Read has been able to provide long term assistance to thousands of children across the island.

On January 5, 2007, Room to Read held a book launching ceremony at the National Library Auditorium. Five books were launched at the ceremony. Four of these books were written and illustrated by school children, while the fifth book is written and illustrated by leading story teller and illustrator, Sybil Wettasinghe. The stories in these book are narrated in English, Sinhala and Tamil. Over 60% of these books will be distributed to the libraries established by Room to Read in schools and community centres, in all parts of Sri Lanka.