About Us

PRESS

Where we've been mentioned:

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"A profile of Story Shares, an honoree for best practices in the 2017 Library of Congress Literary Awards. Story Shares is one of five honorees in the category of Culturally Relevant Books and Literacy."

The Library of Congress

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"One of the brightest innovators and game-changers in the education industry."

*Forbes 30 Under 30 in Education*

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5TH ANNUAL STORYSHARES WRITING COMPETITION CALLS ON WRITERS TO SPARK THE LOVE OF READING. “Our writers and the stories they submit have a huge impact. Tens of millions of teens and young adults lack the reading and writing skills necessary to read books written for their age and interests.” , declares Louise Baigelman, co-founder and executive director of Storyshares.

UK Superiors Paper

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“We need powerful social and educational innovation, and Story Shares is breaking new ground. The organization addresses critical problems facing our students, teachers, and low-income communities. I am excited about the strategies it brings to the collective work of making sure every child has an equal chance in life.”

Elisa Vallanueva Beard, CEO

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“Story Shares is changing the way children around the world read.”

Main Line Today

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"Older students who struggle with reading shouldn't be left with stories written for younger kids. Story Shares offers content for students beyond elementary school." Find the Storyshares product offerings at EdSurge >>

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"Do you have a teenager at home who is reluctant to sit down and read? Here are some tips and resources that might help you and your teen to decrease some of the angst that could be building up around the question of reading."

Richland Library

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"Around the world, this is one of the up-and-coming trailblazers changing the landscape of literacy and education."

*30 Under 30 Award for Literacy*

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"The site is a popular reading destination that seeds a reading habit for older emerging readers. In addition, Story Shares provides a venue for writers who craft books with low literacy in mind."

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"Story Shares is a collaborative digital literacy hub that provides engaging and readable stories for middle and high school students who read below grade level. Check out their ever-growing library of original, just-right content!"

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"This site creates interesting digital books for students but customizes them to their appropriate Reading Level. This is ideal for students who want to read more age appropriate books but struggle w/ the content. Also, these books come w/ built-in reading assistance to help them as well. Authors can even use Story Shares to create digital books using their creation wizard. I highly recommend checking out Story Shares!"

Technology Tidbits

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"Robbie Cestari, a Greenwich student, used Story Shares to publish his own book. Ramsey, Robbie’s teacher, began using Story Shares in 2014 as a reward for her students in writing class. The following year she used it in her literature class and gave students the opportunity to use it on their own. She said finding these sorts of relevant books that engage students is difficult, and they used the stories to practice writing techniques."

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"The reading platform even includes features like “text to speech,” so readers can listen to the words they read, and a visual glossary, which allows readers to click on a word to see its definition. The writing side provides both teacher and student writers with guidelines on how to create stories, design text, add covers and publish their work."

Cornell Daily Sun

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“I wrote for Story Shares because I believe deeply in the power of a good story to change the direction of a person's life, especially a young person,” says Brian Kirchner, 2016 Diversity Award Winner. “As a kid growing up, reading was one of my greatest pleasures."

Brian Kirchner, Story by Royal Oak Patch

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"A normal high school writing assignment turned into a national accolade for one Greene County student. Mitchell's creative project ended with her winning a national writing contest. "I won the contest," Mitchell exclaimed. "I almost cried, I was so surprised and happy. I wasn't expecting it, so I was like oh my goodness, this is the greatest thing." More than 1,600 pieces of writing were submitted to the Story Shares writing contest. 'This is the best day of my life.'" ~ Abigail Mitchell

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"Story Shares is the perfect solution for finding relevant and readable content for older students unable to read above the elementary level. Digital content provides interesting material that doesn't condescend teen readers.”

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"Story Shares is a nonprofit that crowdsources writers to create books tailored for middle school students who read below grade-level.The successful Boston-based nonprofit now has about 300 books available online, and is about to add hundreds more. That’s important, because if you want to reach a new reader, you have to make sure you have something they are interested in."

Boston University Today

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"The organization’s positive impact on literacy empowers and inspires many kinds of struggling readers including English language learners, students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia, and students from low-income communities who have fallen behind in literacy skills and reading comprehension. Story Shares’ mission is truly a matter of changing an entire literacy landscape."

The Free-Lance Star

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"Story Shares sponsors contests for authors, getting them to write books like 'Jacob and the Bee Man.' It is a novel with themes for high school students, but written on a first or second grade level. Their library now has more than 300 titles and has attracted readers in 49 states and 70 countries."

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"Reading opens a world of possibilities. It is a fundamental skill, one that you will use in so many areas of your life. It enables you to educate yourself, to communicate with others, to connect with characters and situations that make you feel understood, that push your thinking, or that challenge the world you know."

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"The Story Shares digital writing tool enables writers, educators, and students to create and publish Relevant Reads."

Building the Future

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"Story Shares began as a literacy project – an experiment, of sorts. The success of the contest, and the support from writers, readers, educators, and other organizations in the field, gave Story Shares the opportunity to become its own non-profit organization. Since then, Story Shares has evolved into a literacy hub for the ongoing creation of Relevant Reads."

"Story Shares, a nonprofit organization devoted to inspiring reading practice and improving literacy skills, is making a big impact for youth literacy across the United States and abroad."

Reading Rockets

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"Addressing the problem of literacy in the teen and young adult demographic poses unique challenges for educators, parents, and young adult readers, because books that are written for children who are learning to read hold little interest for teens and young adults..."

International Reading & Literacy Blog

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"Robbie Cestari, a student at Greenwich’s Eagle Hill School for children with learning disabilities, is a published author. Robbie read “Jacob and the Bee Man” using Story Shares, a nonprofit that encourages increased literacy through its digital reading and writing tools. After finishing the book with his class, he wanted to uncover a secret the book’s main character frequently references but never reveals. He decided to provide the answers himself."

"Why is this so important for improved learning outcomes? We know that providing authentic choice creates a sense of ownership over learning. This, in turn, creates a sense of value, from which engagement, the key learning ingredient, is born."

Reimagine Education

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"Providing personal and compelling choices will give your child(ren) a sense of ownership and pride around their special spot, which engages them more deeply and helps to foster a love of reading."

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"Anyone working in a secondary school library or with young adults struggling with reading, will know how challenging it can be to find material at the right reading level AND the right interest level. Story Shares is one option for those readers to gain some valuable reading mileage."

National Library of New Zealand

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"We know how much of an impact Story Shares can make, and feel energized by this vote of confidence from others."

The Patch Haverford

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"Story Shares serves to provide struggling readers with pertinent and appropriate reads. The site allows writers, educators and students to distribute relevant books with a variety of ages and reading levels."

The Daily Free Press