History of the Project

The Reader’s Passport was founded by author Mara Purl, who asked herself the question, “What is the background against which authorship can occur?” Of course the answer was – “Reading.”

So the author committed herself to discovering what was going on in the larger world of reading. What she found was a vibrant national conversation with participants that included writers, libraries, literary councils, publishers, and most importantly, readers. She discovered that the belief “people don’t read anymore” is NOT true. Instead, she found readers are passionate about what they read, how they get their books, and what they expect from libraries, publishers and writers. What might we expect from books in the future? How did books occur in the past. They occurred as treasures. Books were so valuable, they were treated like gold.

Then a wonderful synergy occurred to Mara. Having served on boards of several non-profits, she was keenly aware of those less fortunate. What if books could be given to those in need? Books would be experienced as treasures, appearing at just the right time, in just the right place.

So this is how the Reader’s Passport program was born. Readers themselves cause reading. How? By reading, getting stamps in their Reader’s Passport, and triggering free books to be sent not only to themselves, but to those who find themselves “stuck” in unfortunate circumstances.

One of the first people with whom Mara discussed this program was Annie Callanan, President of R.R. Bowker. An expert in the field of publishing, Annie was already immersed in the world of books, publishing, distributing, and reading. It was Annie’s request that the Reader’s Passport become a Bowker project, bearing its name and logo.

Bowker employees who work on this project do so of their own volition, and without pay. All who work on Reader’s Passport donate their time. All feel this is time well spent. All are committed to reading, to literacy, and to generosity.

Founder Mara Purl – www.marapurl.com
Key Advisor Annie Callanan – www.bowker.com