A Digital Library for Young Readers and Language Learners
By Mark W.F. Condon, Unite for Literacy vice president
The Unite for Literacy digital library is dedicated to immersing children in the joys of reading long before their formal schooling begins by helping them discover personally exciting books to enjoy.
The library is a collection of 600+ culturally diverse picture books that are available for free to new readers around the world without any account creation. The books mostly are nonfiction and feature nature, animals, sports, home-life, and more. The pictures and text work together to invite conversation and a rich shared reading experience among caregivers and children. Narrations in many languages add further context and support for comprehension.
One of the first concepts we want the library to impress upon children and families is that there are books about every subject imaginable, and how to search for and find books that may interest them.
When a library user clicks on the Categories button, a menu appears that allows them to either choose from “All” of the library’s 600+ books or from a smaller group of books within one of 10 categories.
If a user wants to prioritize book options by one of more than 60 language narrations, they can click on the Globe narration button. The combination of choosing a category and a language to hear them in will yield a tailored selection of books from which to choose.
If the reader wants to listen to books narrated in any of the language narrations, they can click on the Globe button that will add a blue tab beneath a book image indicating that the book is available to hear in the chosen language. The narration feature also is a great resource for language learners because all of the narrations are recorded by native language speakers.
To select a written language, users can click on the Pencil icon. A menu will display three choices—English, Spanish and Ukranian—and then only the books written in the chosen language will appear.
The Share button offers users multiple ways to share the library with family and friends, like through email and select social media sites. It also allows the user to copy a link that they can text or embed in a document. It’s important to note that while we allow users to share books via popular social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, we will not help children set up accounts for those services.
If a user wants to search the library for books about specific topics, they can do that, too.
Research tells us that children from families where books are abundant, shared and read together, and where family members engage in natural, relaxed conversation about what they read have an advantage over their peers who have fewer experiences with shared book reading. We hope that the Unite for Literacy library offers children and families enjoyable resources for shared reading time. We also hope that you share this resource with children and families, and educators that you know.