RENO, Nev. (February 2, 2016) – Ustyme gives free e-books to Washoe County School District students as part of their Billion eBooks Gift initiative, providing a selection of 50 free children e-books to anyone who visits BillioneBookGift.org. This announcement was made today at Kate Smith Elementary School in Sparks where Governor Brian Sandoval gave his support and shared enthusiasm to encourage reading with children. Nevada is the first state to launch this program.

The Billion eBook Gift campaign is expected to help children build healthy brains; boost imagination and self-confidence and establish the social and emotional foundation for later success. The American Academy of Pediatrics recently advised that interacting with technology as a family facilitates social interaction and learning.

With the Billion eBook Gift, smart phones, tablets and computers are transformed into essential tools for families to read together side-by-side or in a video call. It includes favorite classic stories like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, Three Little Pigs and more, all digitally mastered in HD and available in both English and Spanish.

“We are excited to have the Washoe County School District be the first in Nevada to embrace the Billion eBook Gift Program,” said Linda Salesky, Co-Founder of Ustyme. “Ultimately, the most important gift for every child is spending more time together with the caring adults in their life. Having 50 great books in your pocket or tablet anywhere, anytime, gives families more time together to read and share, which improves cognitive development and language skills in young children and helps them read with confidence.”

“Early childhood literacy is a critical piece of academic success for our students. Access to e-books will be an exciting way for our children to learn and read interactively, bringing their educational opportunities into the 21st century. This is a wonderful example of the connection between economic development and education. We look forward to continuing this partnership between WCSD and the business community,” said Dr. Angie Taylor, President of Washoe County School District Board of Trustees.

“Today we introduced the Billion eBooks national campaign in Reno-Sparks and Nevada the first state to launch this campaign is a great way to start the year,” says Mike Kazmierski, President and CEO of EDAWN.  “We are excited by what Ustyme is doing to improve the education of our children and proud that this is a Reno-Sparks company that will have a national impact on the workforce of the future,” he said.

Also attending the press event were representatives from Washoe County School District including Debbie O’Gorman, principal of Kate Smith Elementary School, Dr. Angie Taylor, President of Washoe County School District Board of Trustees, Linda Salesky, Founder of Ustyme, Nick Balian, Illustrator for Ustyme, Mike Kazmierski, President and CEO of EDAWN and students from the Kate Smith Elementary School.

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About Ustyme
Ustyme is a family-first company with the first open digital platform that enables people to share activities – reading books, playing games and much more – while spending time together side-by-side or in a real-time video call. Ustyme distributes family educational and entertainment content and is the publisher of high-quality children’s books and family games. Available for iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablet, Chromebook and web, the Ustyme app makes it easy to socialize in a video call and create meaningful, deeper relationships through shared experiences of any type of content, in any language, on virtually any device. For more information, please visit www.ustyme.com.

About Billion eBook Gift
Billion e-Book Gift is an initiative of Ustyme to give over one billion children’s e-books free to families across the nation, thus providing the largest gift of books in history. The campaign, which runs throughout 2016, is giving everyone 50 classic children’s e-books, all digitally mastered in HD, available in both English and Spanish to read on any device, both side-by-side or in a live video call. Billion e-Book Gift supports Reading Is Fundamental and other literacy programs to ensure that children have access to a choice of books that caring adults can read and share with them. For details, visit BillioneBookGift.org or follow @BillionBookGift, the #BillioneBookGift on Twitter and Facebook at www.facebook.com/BillioneBookGift. Images and materials are available at http://bit.ly/1ThACzx

About Washoe County School District
The Washoe County School District is a public school district providing public education to students in Washoe County, Nevada, including the cities of Reno and Sparks, and the unincorporated communities of Verdi, Incline Village, and Gerlach.

About EDAWNThe Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada is a private/ public partnership established in 1983 committed to adding quality jobs to the region by recruiting new companies, supporting the success of existing companies, and assisting newly forming companies, to diversify the economy and have a positive impact on the quality of life in Greater Reno-Sparks.

 

For More Information:

EDAWN
Norma Yamaji
Associate, Business Development
775.829.3768, yamaji@edawn.org

Washoe County School District
Victoria Campbell
775-333-3789, vcampbell@washoeschools.net

Ustyme
Essy Nickolova
essy@ustyme.com, 949-702-2004