Word up Children and youth across Ethiopia are set to have open access to high-quality books and educational material that can help them learn to read. As reported by ITNewsAfrica, the Global Book Alliance (GBA) – comprising donor agencies from the UK, US, Norway and other countries – is launching the Global Digital Library in a bid to increase the availability of high-quality reading resources for children. Ethiopia has been selected as the first country in which the initiative will be implemented. Available in seven Ethiopian languages, the collection will be accessible via the web, mobile platforms and in print. ‘The mission of the Global Book Alliance is to guarantee that children everywhere have the books and learning materials they need to learn to read and read to learn,’ according to the GBA website. ‘The goal is to make at least 50 000 titles in 100 languages available on the [Global Digital Library] platform by the end of 2020.’ 8 May 2018 Image: Gallo/Getty Images