President Obama joined students at Anacostia Neighborhood Library in Southeast Washington, D.C. yesterday to announce a plan to give low-income children access to 10,000 e-books. As a part of Discovery Education’s “Of the People” webinar series, students asked the President questions about his favorite books, how books have influenced his life, and the importance of technology in classrooms and libraries.
This discussion builds on the President’s ConnectEd initiative to ensure all students have access to a cutting edge classroom. The plan includes $250 million in e-book commitments from major US publishing houses (Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins) as well as a slate of independent publishers of books and magazines (Bloomsbury, Candlewick, Cricket Media, and Lee & Low).
These books will be made available in the coming months through a new app being launched by a consortia of libraries and non-profit organizations, supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Here are some of our favorite books that kids will now be able to read thanks to this initiative: