Audible’s Project Listen Up

A high school student in a blue polo shirt stands with a tablet in one hand and a pair of headphones in the other. Audible + Newark is displayed behind him.

Audible’s Project Listen Up meaningfully connects our product with our social impact mission. Since 2018, we’ve provided Newark public high school students and their teachers with a free year of Audible membership, a bundle of 160+ educator-selected audiobooks, a set of headphones and an Amazon Fire tablet. Through this gift, in collaboration with Newark schools, we were able to integrate the benefits of Audible into schools’ curriculum.

Nearly 15,000 Newark students and teachers gained access to Audible’s extensive library—a powerful educational resource.

In the program’s inaugural year, students also participated in a first-ever high school-wide listen. The book chosen: Daily Show host Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime, one of Audible’s highest-rated titles. Newark schools chose Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere for the second year’s communal listen.

More than 200 Audible employees have volunteered at dozens of distribution events for the project.

Since Project Listen Up began, nearly 15,000 Newark students and teachers gained access to Audible’s extensive library and the power of the spoken word. We look forward to continuing to invest in and scale this initiative in the years ahead.

Trevor Noah and Newark students talk about the impact of the high school-wide listen.
An Audible employee assists a high school student, seated at a table, with setting up his tablet to listen to Audible as part of Project Listen Up.
Audible employees introduce students to Project Listen Up.
Two Audible employees stand at the front of a classroom presenting Project Listen Up to high school students seated at desks.
Audible employees introduce students to Project Listen Up.
A large group of students and Audible employees stand on front of and on top of a stage excitedly holding bags filled with tablets and earphones to celebrate the launch of Project Listen Up.
Celebrating the launch of Project Listen Up at Technology High School.