Penguin Random House | New York, 05/22/2018

Employees Donate Books to Celebrate Fifth Anniversary

On July 1, 2018, Penguin Random House celebrates its fifth anniversary – by making a huge donation of books around the world. Each employee can donate 25 books to an organization of their choice: A hospital or kindergarten, a school or charity. With more than 10,000 employees, this could theoretically add up to donations of a quarter million books – if everyone participates. And that is exactly what CEO Markus Dohle is urging them to do.

On July 1, 2018, Penguin Random House will be five years old. The world's largest publishing group will celebrate its birthday with a unique gift to readers all over the world – and with a global campaign that once again demonstrates its responsibility to its employees and society at large. Each Penguin Random House employee can donate up to 25 books to an organization of their choice worldwide. If all 10,615 of the company’s employees participate, that would amount to more than a quarter of a million books – which would make it one of the biggest book donations of all time. CEO Markus Dohle sees this donation as “an unprecedented opportunity to unite across the globe to get books into the hands of readers who need them.”

“This global book donation is designed to be multi-local, just like our publishing work,” continues the Penguin Random House CEO. “We know that we can have the greatest impact by working hand-in-hand with our employees and our communities.” Dohle says that he plans to donate his own package of books to Save the Children, a long-standing partner of Penguin Random House. And this partnership is just one of many examples for the company’s continuous social responsibility efforts – which, along with the publishing group’s cultural and commercial successes, Markus Dohle sees as an integral part of his positive stocktaking after five years.

Penguin Random House employees are entirely free to choose the recipient of their book donation – the local community library, school, hospital, shelter, kindergarten or charity. It takes just a few quick clicks to place the order, and the employee will receive the requested package of books at their workplace in time to celebrate the anniversary during Company Week, at which point, they just need to be forwarded to the benefactor organization.

Anyone who can’t think of a worthy recipient or doesn’t have a favorite organization to give the book donation to can also choose from a list of 14 Penguin Random House charity partners, which will then receive the 25 books on behalf of the donor. In these cases, the publishing group’s distribution centers will ship the books directly. The deadline for all donation requests is May 25.

Bertelsmann and its partner Pearson had announced the merger of their book businesses and the founding of Penguin Random House in October 2012. The deal was closed on July 1, 2013, and the world's largest book publishing group was born. Bertelsmann initially held 53 percent of the shares in Penguin Random House, and the British media company Pearson 47 percent. In January 2017, Bertelsmann increased its stake in the company to 75 percent. Pearson holds the remaining 25 percent. In addition to commercial success and a smooth integration process, the first five years of Penguin Random House's history have been marked by hundreds of bestsellers and countless literary awards – including the world’s most prestigious ones.