Recommended examples of children’s digital libraries
Digital libraries for schools are typically based on whole-school subscription models but there are also some that are freely available. Teachers may consider the possibility of children accessing a digital library from home and encourage them to choose titles for themselves. Just like planning visits to physical libraries, teachers can plan children’s ‘visits’ online to explore digital libraries. For example, they can allocate some time at the end of an English lesson for children to browse the latest titles or renew their book loans. The key message to convey to children is that digital libraries provide legitimate spaces to nurture their interest to read and that digital books can be an integral part of their reading diet.
The International Children’s Digital Library
My primary example of a recommended digital library is the ICDL, which offers free access to high-quality digital books from around the world:
http://en.childrenslibrary.org/
The ICDL was established in November 2002 and caters for children aged between three and thirteen. In 2018, it lists 4,619 books in 59 languages. The ICDL’s mission is to promote reading but also the cultural value of books. This mission is underscored by the fact that the ICDL offers e-books in 15 different languages from 27 cultures. The library was designed in partnership with a research team led by Allison Druin from the University of Maryland, which adopted a unique approach to the design of the digital user interface. Druin’s (2005) team collaborated with children in designing the ICDL and pioneered the direct involvement of children in the design of technology-based environments. The library’s success is thus a testament to what can be achieved through co-design with children. Researchers at the University of Maryland have published several academic papers (e.g. Druin et al. 2003) that describe the benefits of child-mediated design and their approach has become prominent in the field of computer design. The children’s involvement has meant that the library does not contain typical genre-led categories of books. Professor Druin’s research shows that children use different criteria when searching for books. When developing the library search categories for children with children, the researchers noticed that adult categories of fiction and non-fiction made little sense to young readers. Instead, the children suggested categories such as ‘happy’ or ‘scary’ books or books with spiders and princesses. The CDL can be accessed via the web browser on any device; as far as I know, most schools access it on desktop computers. For iPads, the library can be accessed as a free iOS app:
Oxford Owl
Another large collection of digital books is the Oxford Owl library run by Oxford University Press. Oxford Owl is a paid subscription library for UK schools, but it also offers a free e-book library with a collection of selected Oxford Owl titles. The site is for three- to eleven-year-olds and offers about 200 titles categorised according to age, reading level, book type and Oxford Owl series (Project X, ReadWriteInc., Biff, Chip and Kipper adventures, etc.). The digital books have limited interactivity but are likely to engage children because of their attractive illustrations and professionally recorded voiceovers. The library can be accessed from the publisher’s website:
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page
StoryPlace
StoryPlace is a free book depository for computer-based digital books. Users need to have Adobe Flash installed to access all its titles. The digital library carries titles for pre-schoolers only. The ‘Book Hive’ offers several stories, and the ‘Preschool Activity Library’ offers matched activities for each story. The site is available in English and Spanish:
Nalibali
In addition to digital databases of stories in English, teachers can introduce children to digital libraries with books in different languages. For example, Nalibali offers titles in African languages and English. Nalibali was developed and is curated as part of the Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA). PRAESA is an independent research and development unit affiliated with the University of Cape Town, which seeks to support children’s love of reading with titles in local languages. It offers digital books that can be printed out or read online. Besides English, Nalibali titles are available in 10 African languages: Afrikaans, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, Siswati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu
TumbleBooks
TumbleBooks is a popular digital library site in Canada with interactive audio picturebooks for children of pre-school and lower primary-school age. TumbleBooks can be presented to children as a digital library they can access from home with their parents. It is a subscription site with books based on popular picturebooks with added audio (narration and music) and some basic animation. Children can listen to the story or interact with it with the narration switched off. They can access the books on any reading device (if you’re using a tablet go to the TumbleMobile site) and teachers who subscribe to the site can access lesson plans in alignment with Canada’s Common Core.
http://asp.tumblebooks.com/Default.aspx
Wheelers Books
Wheelers Books prides itself to be the largest supplier of digital books in Australasia, with a huge database of 20.2 million titles. The platform is advertised to teachers and librarians who might wish to license specific titles. For teachers working with international communities of readers, it is worth having a look at the content diversity enabled by its massive database.
https://www.wheelersbooks.com.au/info/ebooks
Literature for Children
Literature for Children is an example par excellence of how digital books can enrich traditional libraries. The site shows that, whereas physical copies of the same titles would be difficult to make freely available en masse, digital copies can be shared, saved as a digital copy or printed out as a PDF. The site offers 74 free digital books that can be read via an internet browser. The unique feature of the site is that it features copyright-free books published in the United States and Great Britain between 1850 and 1923. The digitisation of these titles was funded through the US National Endowment for the Humanities and the site is hosted by the University of Florida. Most of the titles are from the Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature, housed in the Department of Special Collections and Area Studies at the University of Florida. Despite the age of the titles, their digital display presents scanned pages with vivid colours. This digital library is an important example of how digital libraries can enrich reading: rather than focusing on bestsellers and currently popular titles, they can play an important role in reviving classic stories and historic illustrations.
http://palmm.digital.flvc.org/islandora/search/?type=edismax&collection=palmm%3Ajuv
BorrowBox
BorrowBox is not a digital library (book depository) per se but rather a digital intermediate between an existing library collection and a school’s access to it. BorrowBox can be installed on any digital device. Once installed, it enables users to download digital books in a format compatible with their device. Users need to be registered with a local library to be able to download selected digital books. They can also search, browse and request loans. Books are arranged by age, genre, author, series and for audio-books also by narrator. Unique features include recommendations of similar titles and the facility to read and listen to book previews. Some libraries offer their own curated lists of titles. Given a connection to a local library, users can make instant loans or reservations of physical books as well. If a digital book is accessed through the app, BorrowBox saves where the reader has stopped and offers a digital bookmark. BorrowBox works as an app for Apple devices:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/borrowbox-library/id562843562?mt=8
– or Android devices:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bolindadigital.BorrowBoxLibrary&hl=en_GB