While Bangladesh has many community libraries, they have traditionally been underused in support of children’s reading. Beyond Access Bangladesh—a partnership between IREX and Save the Children’s READ program, along with a coalition of other stakeholders—helps community libraries transform into vibrant, child-friendly spaces.

The spaces provide reading corners, child-appropriate books, tablets loaded with learning games, and other educational materials, such as puzzles, drawing kits, and word games. Librarians also engage members of the community, including parents and teachers, to foster a culture of reading for children that extends beyond classroom instruction.

IREX and Save the Children commissioned Innovision to conduct a study to assess the extent to which Beyond Access Bangladesh improved reading practice and performance for early grade children. IREX and Save the Children conducted a baseline study in December 2015 and an external endline evaluation in June 2017 that involved a sample size of 194 children. The evaluation will be available soon.

The infographic highlights key findings about the project's role in increasing exposure to text, improving reading performance, engaging parents and teachers, and enabling an environment where children believe that reading is fun.