Quote:
Some Park Slope parents say a flood of new technology is distracting their children from reading books — at the library.
The Park Slope branch wowed readers with 20,000 new books when it reopened in September, but its collection of iPads and children’s computers hasn’t been sitting well with some parents, who say their kids are already drowning in a sea of screens.
Head librarian Stephanie Brueckel said she got a flurry of negative feedback about the iPads, which were the first in the Brooklyn public library system devoted specifically to children. After one of the shiny new devices was stolen just weeks after the branch’s reopening, Brueckel pulled the remaining iPads out of the children’s section and stashed them behind closed doors.
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Hate to break it to these parents, but this is the 21st century and digital is the future. Reading is reading and the device used is secondary to the content. If these parents are concerned that their children will be distracted away from reading, then I question their parenting skills.
On a secondary point, I do question the library's purchase of iPads when other quality tablets are available for half the cost. What a waste of tax dollars.