John Wood was inspired to start Room to Read after visiting a primary school in Nepal that had 450 students but only a handful of outdated books. He officially co-founded Room to Read in 2001 with Dinesh Shrestha and Erin Ganju to focus on increasing literacy and gender equality in education in developing countries through programs that develop reading skills and help girls complete secondary school. As of 2012, Room to Read has established over 1,600 schools, 13,500 libraries, distributed 11 million books, published 707 children's books, and benefited 6 million children across 10 countries in Asia and Africa.