Ed Week reports…
President Obama today is announcing a pair of White House initiatives aimed at increasing students’ access to public libraries, and boosting the ability of economically disadvantaged students to use the digital resources available in those facilities.
At an appearance at the Anacostia Library in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, the president is expected to put forward a plan, supported by commercial publishers, to provide more than $250 million worth of free e-book content to students from low-income families, along with a second effort meant to give all students in 30 different communities, and eventually nationwide, a library card.
I think this is great but I think it’s more of a marketing push than anything else, ‘cause last time I looked library cards were free. Although they have some big publishers offering free content…
Several major publishers, including Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Hachette, are supporting the e-book program, and will provide over 10,000 of the most well-known books to students as e-resources.
As part of the e-book effort, nonprofits and librarian networks will work with the New York Public Library to develop an app designed to give low-income families access the newly available digital materials.
And are drawing on efforts to get devices to the families and students who need them…
To address the issue of unequal access to computing devices, Zients pointed to other efforts within the broader ConnectED program to boost the technology available for students. Apple, for instance, recently provided $100 million worth of digital devices to low-income schools.
And the plan is to broaden the reach as they can…
The White House says that its plan, called the ConnectED Library Challenge, has drawn a commitment from more than 30 different cities and counties to give every child enrolled in school a library card. However, the ultimate goal of the project, Muñoz said, is to make library access universal for all U.S. students.
Hopefully this will mean better broadband and more hours open…
In addition to promoting library card access, libraries will also offer educational programs, improve access to digital resources, and provide high-speed connectivity for library patrons.
No additional federal funding will accompany these new efforts, the White House noted that ConnectedED has received $2 billion from the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates telecommunications, another $2 billion from private sector foundations, and $1.5 billion in additional annual funding.