{"id":9489,"date":"2014-09-28T00:00:08","date_gmt":"2014-09-28T04:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=9489"},"modified":"2014-09-28T07:05:38","modified_gmt":"2014-09-28T11:05:38","slug":"9489","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2014\/09\/9489\/","title":{"rendered":"Tween Tabs Take Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

In many ways, it is difficult to believe that my library has been circulating iPads in the children\u2019s library for almost three years. Despite the continued discourse on the role of tablet technology among pre-readers, there is no question that children and families have continued to integrate such devices into their lives. In our community parents look to the librarians to guide their app selections, or at least point them towards the resources that can assist in discerning which purchases to make.<\/p>\n

\"Kids<\/a>
Kids grasping a new Tween Tab from the library.
Photo courtesy of Jacquie Miller.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It first began with the preschool set, as our library made the decision to circulate Early Literacy Kits<\/a>.\u00a0The idea was to\u00a0infuse tech into what we as children\u2019s librarians were already expounding to parents and caregivers about the practices they can master in order to cultivate a reader. Now after so many parents have expressed that their child has already \u201cSpot the Red Dot,\u201d\u009d so to speak, what\u2019s next?<\/p>\n

After the debut of our nonfiction reorganization we began thinking of ways to market\u00a0the collection glades and showcase\u00a0other resources that reflected these areas. Time and time again we kept hearing requests to\u00a0circulate tablets for school-age children. Some of our initial concerns stemmed from the prevalence in the community of iPads in the\u00a0home. Was there even really a need with most families already owning at least one device? We realized that this wasn\u2019t the case for all families, and if anything a lot of the feedback has been that patrons\u00a0look to our curated list of apps as the main draw. With this encouragement, why not mirror some of the same subjects we wanted to point kids to in redefining\u00a0how we navigate nonfiction? Our focus would be to highlight apps that inform, engage, and are used\u00a0to create. Looking to\u00a0a previous attempt at providing tweens with circulating devices that dissolved, we knew that we could give our\u00a0Tween Tabs<\/a>\u00a0new life.<\/p>\n

The method of circulating, updating, and restricting the devices would match the process of the early literacy tablets. Due to other initiatives we wouldn\u2019t be able to roll out six iPads at once, but decided to test-drive the service\u00a0with two tablets. Instead of the 5 Early Literacy Practices, we would be dividing our apps\u00a0into the new nonfiction glades: Facts, Traditions, Create, Sports, Self, Fun, Animals, STEM, Then & Now, adding\u00a0Bio and Languages to round it out. Compiling some of our favorites from the past few years, which we have demoed in programs and sometimes spontaneously in the stacks, the total list included over 70 apps.<\/p>\n

From homework help apps like Stack the States<\/a>, Prezi<\/a>, and the\u00a0American Presidents for iPad<\/a>, to brainteasers like Rube Works <\/a>and American Girl Doll Trivia<\/a>, the reception has been quite astounding. There are currently over 20 holds on the kits, while pitching the new offering has purely been accomplished\u00a0through word of mouth. Families are eager to use language resources like Gus on the Go: Mandarin<\/a> and Rosetta Stone Kids Lingo Letter Sounds<\/a>, and STEM picks Motion Math: Match<\/a>, Hopscotch<\/a>, and Oh No! Fractions<\/a>. Personally, my heart tends to gravitate towards apps that give\u00a0kids the ability to produce art digitally, like\u00a0Easy Studio<\/a>, Photogene<\/a>, Bloom HD<\/a>, and Auryn Ink<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Whatever new technologies are making waves, let’s continue to make sure we are providing these services for a variety of age groups in the community.<\/p>\n

Claire Moore is a member of the Digital Content Task Force. She is also Head of Children\u2019s Services at Darien Library in Connecticut. You can reach Claire at cmoore@darienlibrary.org.<\/p>\n

Visit the Digital Media Resources<\/a> page to find out more about navigating your way through the evolving digital landscape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In many ways, it is difficult to believe that my library has been circulating iPads in the children\u2019s library for almost three years. Despite the continued discourse on the role of tablet technology among pre-readers, there is no question that children and families have continued to integrate such devices into their lives. In our community parents look to the librarians to guide their app selections, or at least point them towards the resources that can assist in discerning which purchases to make. It first began with the preschool set, as our library made the decision to circulate Early Literacy Kits.\u00a0The idea was to\u00a0infuse tech into what we as children\u2019s librarians were already expounding to parents and caregivers about the practices they can master in order to cultivate a reader. Now after so many parents have expressed that their child has already \u201cSpot the Red Dot,\u201d\u009d so to speak, what\u2019s next?…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[271,141,24],"tags":[424,281,258],"class_list":["post-9489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogger-digital-content-task-force","category-children-technology","category-digital-world","tag-ipads","tag-stem","tag-technology-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9489\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}