Recognizing the academic benefits of access to print for young children, book distribution programs abound in the United States. Designed to promote book ownership for low-income families, programs have unique delivery systems, leading to a largely fragmented policy. This article describes an urban city's effort to build a coordinated book…

Many low-income children do not have the opportunity to develop the computer skills necessary to succeed in our technological economy. Their only access to computers and the Internet--school, afterschool programs, and community organizations--is woefully inadequate. Educators must work to close this knowledge gap and to ensure that low-income…

As blogs light up with lively conversations about iPads, netbooks, and smart phones, it's easy to forget one major roadblock to preparing all children for the future: the digital divide. Although middle-class students often take high-speed Internet access for granted, a full 65 percent of Americans who make less than $25,000 a year lack broadband…

In a study conducted by the authors regarding children's use of library books and computers during the summer, the authors found that children in low-income and middle-income neighborhoods use such resources differently. Although the authors found that both sets of children used public libraries heavily, wealthier children were exposed to more…

This study examines children's uses of reading resources in neighborhood public libraries that have been transformed to "level the playing field." Through foundation funding (US$20 million), the public library system of Philadelphia converted neighborhood branch libraries into a technologized modern urban library system, hoping to…

An ethnographic study of an urban comprehensive high school shows that teachers rarely used Channel One as a focus of instruction in their classrooms. Students watched Channel One primarily during an 18-minute homeroom period--a concession to parents, teachers, and administrators reluctant to sacrifice instructional time to show the program. Two…

Reports results of a 2-year program to put high-quality children's books in urban child-care centers. Gives an overview of the project, detailing its progress, processes, and impact on children's literacy development. Suggests to increase the volume, quality, and intensity of young children's stimulating experiences with good books at an early age…

Finds striking differences between neighborhoods of differing income in access to print (books, signs, labels, logos, public places conducive to reading, and access to books in local preschools, school libraries, and public library branches), with middle-income children having a large variety of resources to choose from, while low-income children…

Libraries await their uncertain fate as they transform literacy development and the vital service they provide to the needy children in the nation. If we let the libraries die, then the hopes of young generation will slip away as they will be left without access to necessary support.

Reports the results of a series of peer group discussions with adolescent mothers enrolled in a family literacy program. Finds that literacy was seen as important because it served as a tool to address economic and social concerns; and parents' goals for themselves focused on independence, being a role model to their children, and self-respect.…