The Obama Administration’s Pledge to Donate eBooks to Low-Income Children Raises Concerns

May 7, 2015

During his visit to the Anacostia Library last week, President Obama announced his plan to donate $250 million dollars’ worth of eBooks to children of low-income families. The New York Public Library, working in partnership with major publishers including Random House, Simon & Schuster, and others, is responsible for developing the app that will make 10,000 books accessible.

The problem? Many low-income families don’t own a computer, which is to say nothing of their access to a reading device. According to the Census Bureau, in 2013, 40 percent of households that earned less than $25,000 a year didn’t own a computer, and less than half had an Internet subscription.

In response, the Obama administration says it also plans to make broadband available in every public school and library by 2018. Additionally, Apple has pledged $100 million in devices to low-income schools.

“More and more, you’re going to be seeing kids using devices, and what we’re doing is making sure that there’s more books available on those devices,” said Cecilia Munoz, Obama’s domestic policy advisor, according to Reuters.

The titles available through the new program will include such books as The Wonderful World of Oz by Frank Baum, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, and The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. Find out what Obama’s favorite children’s books are.

Even more supplementary reading: Flavorwire contributor Jonathan Sturgeon argues that Obama’s plan may be “an attempt to save a collapsing market.”


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