John Wood reports:  “Room to Read’s Girls Education Program was featured in the PBS documentary Half the Sky on October 1st.    I had the thrill of lifetime spending four days with the New York Times’ Nick Kristof in Vietnam, hearing the stories of the Room to Read schools, libraries and long-term scholarships for girls.  Next year should be really exciting, as Penguin will publish my new book in February:  Creating Room to Read: A Story of Hope in the Battle for Global Literacy.  Room to Read continues to grow – we’re up to over 1,550 schools and 13,500 libraries open.   This year, we will open more libraries than Starbucks or McDonald’s will open new outlets.”

Tiffany Shlain’s new 2-minute film Engage premiered in September 2012.  Engage is part of the Let it Ripple: Mobile Films For Global Change short film series, which launched in 2011 by Tiffany and her team at The Moxie Institute. The short films pick up where her feature documentary Connected leaves off, putting many of the ideas covered in Connected into action. These films are created through pushing the boundaries of emerging technologies and experimenting with global collaboration.  You can learn more about Engage and watch the film here.

Tonya Hinch writes:  “Taking advantage of the Reiling Family drive to Aspen for the Summer, I hosted Peter, Denise and lovely daughter Eva in Crossville, Tennessee. Along with a chance to discuss the recent China Alumni Seminar, we strolled through the Downtown Crossville Revitalization footprint so Peter could see the Crown Project underway.  Posed with the humans are Eva’s favorite Bulldog, Baby Sister Penny Rose, (in my arms) and Deisel standing patiently on the sidewalk.”

And, Fernando Espuelas continues to spur debate about the 2012 Presidential race and other community issues, while encouraging more and more Latinos to get out and vote with his daily show Radio Espuelas.  Tune in to listen or download the podcasts here.