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President Obama announces Open eBooks Initiative and ConnectEd
By Donna DiMichele | April 30, 2015
With a group of middle school students seated in front of him at the Anacostia Branch of the District of Columbia Public Library, and hundreds of other students on a “virtual field trip” watching online from throughout the country, President Obama announced the Open eBooks initiative. The program will make $250 million dollars in popular ebooks available via an app to students from low-income families. The Open eBooks app is being developed by the New York Public Library, which is partnering with the Digital Public Library of America and First Book to curate and deliver the e-books to students from low-income families. #BooksForAll
A complementary program, the ConnectED Library Challenge, is a commitment by more than 30 communities to work to put a library card into every student’s hand as soon as they enter school. Data analyzed by IMLS show that children who visited the library during kindergarten had higher achievement scores in reading and science in third grade, particularly for children in households with low income and low parental education. IMLS, in partnership with the American Library Association and the Urban Libraries Council, will host a national convening this year to identify and share best practices in reaching universal library card use among public school students.
For details, see the following
President Obama Announces Open eBooks and ConnectED Library Challenge
White House Fact Sheet Spreading the Joy of Reading to More Children and Young Adults
The archive version of the President Obama Participates in a “Virtual Field Trip” with Students Around the Country will be posted on the White House channel on YouTube
Topics: ALA, eBooks, IMLS, Literacy, News & Information | Comments Off on President Obama announces Open eBooks Initiative and ConnectEd
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