2012 Fellow Incorporated with Aozora Bunko
Our 2012 fellow, Rika Tanioka, is a professor of the department of media studies at Tokai University. On top of her full-time job as an educator, she also devotes her time and passion to make books available for all . After JWLI, Rika started an initiative called Aozora Bunko. Aozora Bunko is a website that promotes joy in reading and it makes audio books with expired copyrights available online for all. It is for children and adults of all ages and abilities, and particularly for those with vision loss. The site and its audio books have received great responses. It uploads a title a week and currently offers over 240 titles, all of which are available for free. Rika has been approached by boards of education from all over the country that are interested in incorporating these audio books into their school curriculum. In order to better respond to the high demands of more titles, Rika incorporated the initiative this May. Congratulations Rika and keep up the great work!