President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Scholastic
Search every verified Peter Warwick interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Peter Warwick, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Scholastic, discussed the company's strategy and the children's book market in a September 2024 interview. Warwick stated that the "literary literacy crisis" is driving Scholastic's strategy, particularly in the United States, its largest market. He said that only around half of kids in schools are at the required reading level for their grade, with lower rates in minority communities, and that literacy rates declined further during the COVID-19 pandemic. Warwick noted that Scholastic is working with states, private philanthropists, and foundations to get more books into children's homes, describing this as a key initiative that can gain broad support. Warwick identified graphic novels as a key growth area, noting that the percentage of kids favoring the format increased from 22% in 2018 to 37% recently. He said Scholastic is converting conventional chapter books into graphic novels, citing the Babysitter's Club as an example, and pointed to a "virtuous circle" between books and screen adaptations, referencing the successful launch of a live-action Goosebumps series. On the topic of artificial intelligence, Warwick distinguished between its use in marketing and operations, which he described as "unequivocally helpful," and the more complicated relationship between generative AI and creativity. He said Scholastic has an internal working group and board discussions on the topic, and that the company is engaging with authors and agents about issues such as contracting and the use of copyright material for generative AI models.
“The big thing which is really driving our strategy is the literary literacy crisis which exists in so many parts of the world, particularly in the United States where it is our largest market. More funding, more attention, and more activities around literacy need to happen, and those are things we particularly want to...”
“Only around half of kids in schools are at the required reading level for their grade, and if you look at minority communities such as Black, Asian, Indigenous, it's even lower. Literacy rates were declining before COVID and have declined further during the pandemic due to disruption in teaching and learning.”
“There are broader sources of funding available now for books to enable kids who are behind in their reading to get more reading material at home, especially those from underprivileged or underrepresented communities. We work with states, private philanthropists, and private sector foundations to get more books into the...”
“Getting books directly into homes is a key initiative, and it's something that everyone can agree on regardless of political spectrum because tackling low levels of literacy is important.”
“Graphic novels are one of the fastest growing book formats for kids. In our surveys, the percentage of kids favoring graphic novels increased from 22% in 2018 to 37% recently. This is a key area to focus on for growth and innovation.”
“If you can get a kid's series going, it's the best thing ever because you have a constant revolving cycle of customers. We convert conventional chapter books into graphic novels to expand the market, like with the Babysitter's Club.”
“There is a virtuous circle between books and screen adaptations. For example, the live-action Goosebumps series launched on Disney Plus and Hulu had 4.2 million viewings over the weekend, the most successful Disney TV launch in three years. This drives interest and revenues for the books.”
“Regarding AI, it can be used in unequivocally helpful ways such as marketing, customer service, and operations. However, the relationship between generative AI and creativity is complicated, and we have an internal working group and board discussions on this topic.”
“There are issues around contracting and copyright material use for generative AI models. Authors and agents want to discuss what it means, and we are trying to keep up with everyone else on this evolving topic.”
Publishing Perspectives Forum at Frankfurt Book Fair 2023: Interview with Peter Warwick, CEO of Scholastic, about present and ...
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