The 100 Book Challenge reading program was first used in a suburban Philadelphia school district where Jane Hileman, CEO and Founder of the American Reading Company, was working as a reading specialist. Ms. Hileman challenged a group of second-graders with kindergarten-level reading abilities to read 100 books. The kids read hundreds of books while Ms Hileman and her colleagues used daily conferencing and assessment sessions to coach individuals and ensure the shared curriculum met the needs of all the students. Parents were coached on how to establish the home routines essential to long-term academic success. By giving them the choice to read books leveled to their abilities, the students experienced success with reading and were encouraged to read more. She also offered them inexpensive prizes as incentives for reading a certain number of books. Even the most reluctant of students got hooked on reading through Ms. Hileman’s 100 Book Challenge, and soon, all the second-graders had improved their reading scores.

Word about 100 Book Challenge began to spread, and Ms. Hileman was invited to bring it into Philadelphia city schools, where her ideas for reading improvement were put to use in several of the district’s poorest schools. When two of the schools were recognized nationally for doubling the percentage of students reading on or above grade level, 100 Book Challenge was cited as one of the reasons behind the schools’ successes.

Ms. Hileman was then invited to become the co-founder and associate director of PHILADELPHIA READS. With the support of the William Penn Foundation, 100 Book Challenge spread to more than 70 Philadelphia schools. In 1998, the Abell Foundation of Baltimore asked Ms. Hileman to provide her program to 10 Baltimore city schools. To fulfill that order, Ms. Hileman decided to establish 100 Book Challenge as a business.

Customer-financed from the beginning, American Reading Company has grown in terms of revenue, customers, staffing, and types of programs offered since it was founded. The company’s core program, 100 Book Challenge, is currently used in more than 129 districts in 29 states, plus the District of Columbia. More than 250,000 students participate in the program nationwide. To reflect its national customer-base and its growing list of products and programs, the company changed its name from 100 Book Challenge to American Reading Company in 2004.

American Reading Company’s rapid growth and success in the classroom has not gone unnoticed. Currently, Ms. Hileman is being considered for the Ernst & Young Entreprenure of the Year award. In October 2004, the company was named one of the top 100 fastest-growing private firms in the Philadelphia area by the Philadelphia Business Journal, the Entrepreneurs’ Forum of Greater Philadelphia, and the Wharton Small Business Development Center. In March 2005, Random House, Inc., through its Random House Ventures, L.L.C. investment subsidiary, became a leading minority shareholder in American Reading Company.

More than 100 people from a wide variety of backgrounds work for American Reading Company in King of Prussia. Former educators, customers, vendors, and parents are on staff to help develop programs, provide support, and offer training to the schools that implement American Reading Company programs.