Peter Warwick on literacy crisis
From Scholastic CEO Peter Warwick in Conversation · · Publishing Perspectives
“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 connect to.”
On , Peter Warwick, President, Chief Executive Officer & Director at SCHOLASTIC CORP, spoke about literacy crisis during Scholastic CEO Peter Warwick in Conversation on Publishing Perspectives.
About Peter Warwick
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.