CHILDRENS BOOKS AND TECHNOLOGY

SCOTT ELZEY

Reality of Childrens Digital Libraries

Whether at home, school, or visiting the toy store in the mall, most children interact with increasing amounts of computer and electronic technology. Items including iPods, Leapfrog books, and even stuffed animals contain technological enhancements to encourage learning or play. Childrens use of computers for play and for learning is also on the rise. In school, computer lessons include games and websites that help teach children their curriculum. At home, internet toys such as WebKinz and Neopets are gaining popularity. As children become more internetand computer savvy, libraries and schools are trying to capitalize on this trend by offering internet-based educational tools, games, and digital collections of library books. Some libraries are starting to provide many digital resources for young children. For example, the Youngstown Public Library offers the Tumble Book Library for its patrons. continued on page 2

eBooks in Public Libraries

Public libraries are using ebooks in many different ways. Some libraries have eReaders that patrons can check out. Most of these libraries have an age requirement of 18 years old in order to check out the eReaders. Because of this, parents must check out the eReaders for their children to use. These eReaders are treated just like other items in the library. Fees can be charged for late, damaged or lost eReaders. Other libraries purchase copies of ebooks to be checked out by patrons. Patrons can use their own device an library card to check out ebooks. The book is then downloaded on the patrons device and then automatically removed after a certain period of time (ie 2 weeks). Libraries cannot lend and unlimited amount of ebooks. Just like paper books, the library can only lend out the number of copies it purchases and owns.

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OXFORD OWL is a repository of free ebooks for kids. The site allows children to read stories online. The students can view pictures, read the stories, or have the stories read to them.

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TUMBLE BOOK LIBRARY is a pay site with animated, talking picture books. The books are viewed via Flash, so kids can only view these books online (not on an iPad however).

FREE KIDS BOOKS is a site where kids can download free ebooks. The books are saved in a PDF format so that they can be saved onto an eReader or a tablet for children to read.

Tumble Book Library is an online collections of animated picture books for children. It is a pay-site, but many public libraries offer free subscriptions to their patrons. The Internet Public Library has many links for children. One link is the for the International Childrens Digital Library. Here, kids can read books online. The CDLs mission is to provide a collection of books that represent outstanding historical and contemporary books from throughout the world. Books Should Be Free is a site that includes downloadable books for the iPad, Kindle, and Android. Their collections offers hundreds of titles that are all free for download. The selection of ebooks for children varies greatly. There are a number of resources for older children (grades 3-5) to download classic chapter books (ie The Guttenberg Project). For younger children, the options are much fewer. However, there are famous picture books (Dont Let the Pigeon Run This App, The Three Little Pigs, and The Tale of Peter Rabbit) that have their own apps on the iPad and Android devices. These apps let children listen to the story, have the book read to them, or interact with the books illustrations.
Source: http://pinterest.com/source/teachingdegree.org/

Pros and Cons of eReaders for children in school and public libraries.

PROS
Excitement in Excess- Students and children are very excited about new technology and very eager to try and use new devices. Reaching the Reluctant- The buzz of eReaders is not limited to eager readers, reluctant readers are also excited to give eReaders a chance. Shelf-life- Once an ebook is purchased, the library owns the books. With the lack of pages and a spine, the books will not get ruined. Interactivity- Many ebooks are interactive. Students can listen to the story, use a built in dictionary, and watch the story unfold in front of them through digital illustrations. Customization- Students can customize their books experience by adjusting the font types, text fonts, and line spacing.

CONS
Cost- eReaders are not cheap. Not only are the devices pricey, but library staff will be consumed with setup and management of the devices. You Break It, You Buy It- if the patrons can check out the eReader and not just the actual ebook, there is some risk involved. Patrons will have to cover the cost of the device. And knowing kids, this is a denite possibility. Publisher Persuasion- Publishers constantly jump in and pull out of the ebook market. Constantly changing limitations make developing a collection of e-books difcult. Keeping Up With the Techies- Technology is changing at a rapid pace. Cutting edge devices from a year ago are starting to be phased out. Staying up to date can be costly.

Conclusion
Just as with books, there are many resources for quality ebooks for children. As librarians, we must not always know the answer, but we must know where to go to nd the answer. Having a quality list of resources to refer to is a must for any childrens librarian. There are many pros and cons to consider before purchasing eReaders and ebooks for children. Hopefully after reading this newsletter, you will have a better understanding of childrens books and technology to make a educated decision.

Annotated Bibliography
Online Resources
*ICDL - International Children's Digital Library. (n.d.). ICDL - International Children's Digital Library. Retrieved from http://en.childrenslibrary.org/ The International Childrens Digital Library is a database of online books for children. The collection consists of classic books, new books, and books about various countries. The goal of the ICDL is to provide a collection of books that represent outstanding historical and contemporary books from all over the world. The site offers books in various languages. *Oxford Owl: Help your child's reading. (n.d.). Free Children's Ebooks for Ages 3-11. Retrieved from http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/FindBook The Oxford Owl is a collection of ebooks for children ages 3-11. Children can lter through books by age. The site offers leveled books, phonic books for independent reading, and books for enjoyment. The site even gives great advice to parents about how to choose the correct books for their children. *Popular free audio books. (n.d.). Books Should Be Free. Retrieved from http:// www.booksshouldbefree.com/ This site offers hundreds of free books for children. Children are able to use the search bar to nd titles by author, title, or keyword. Many of the books are part of the Gutenberg Project. Most of the books can be downloaded in any portable format for all devices and can be downloaded as audiobooks so that children can use them on an eReader or listen to them on an MP3 player. *Still-Schiff, J. (2013, January). EBook Resources for Libraries. Association for Library Services for Children. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/alsc/sites/ala.org.alsc/les/content/2013ebook %20resources.pdf This is a yer for librarians. It gives them many resources to refer to about ebooks and eReaders. There is a list of books about about electronic books, a list of articles about electronic books, and links to ways that libraries are implementing ebooks and eReaders into their collection. There are also links to examples of programs and instructions for eReaders. *Storyline Online. (n.d.). Storyline Online. Retrieved from http://www.storylineonline.net/ Storyline Online is a website created by the Screen Actors Guild Foundation. It provides famous books and not-so-famous books being read by famous people and not-so-famous people. For example, it features Harry The Dirty Dog being read by Betty White. The stories are available via YouTube. YouTube is blocked by some schools districts, so those students would either have to view them at home or at the library.

Print Resources
*Bircher, K. (2012). What Makes a Good Picture Book App?. Horn Book Magazine, 88(2), 72-78. This article discusses the features of a good picture books app. A good picture book app, according to the author is one that is not too interactive, puts users in charge of the book, is easy to navigate, and adds to or extends the original books. The article is well written and gives many good examples of quality picture book apps available. There is also a list of recommended picture book apps. *Guernsey, L. (2011). Are Ebooks Any Good? School Library Journal, 57(6), 28-32. This article discusses the value of ebooks. The authors looks at how ebooks are created and how they are used by children. The author talked to a developer of ebook apps and he discussed how his daughter likes to watch the Toy Story book on her iPad. The authors cautions libraries and users about the ebook experience saying that quality of such ebooks and apps needs to be considered before purchasing. The author also believes that with the rise of ebooks, children will not grow up for an appreciation for physical books and they feel and work. The author does site some positives however. Ebooks help in that they dont take up much physical space in the library, they never get torn, ripped, or ruined, and they can be more cost effective than physical books. *Hastings, J. (2013). CES 2013: Top Trends for Schools. School Library Journal, 59(2), 12-13. The article is about trends in schools, so it mentions other topics than just ebooks. But, the article explains that the use of ebooks among students has nearly doubled since 2010. That number has risen from 25% to 46% over the last three years. The article explains that ebooks have found to be an exceptional tool for boys who are reluctant to read. The interaction with the book and the digital animation tend to gain their interest and allows them a chance to read more often. *Lee, M. (2012). An App for Young Readers and Parents, Too. School Library Journal, 58(5), 13. This article introduces us to a new platform in ebooks, the new Ruckus Reader. Its goals is to provide children with a safe, interactive environment for exploring digital books. This virtual bookcase will hold various titles of iReaders (interactive digital storybooks), ebooks, and vidReaders (video books). They have partnered with Houghton Mifin Harcourt to provide access to more classic titles for children.