News Archive

2011

December 8, 2011 (Collection)
159 new Indian books in 8 languages
College Park, MD
159 new books from Pratham Books in Bangalore, India were added to ICDL. The book languages include English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.
June 1, 2011
Educational value of E-Books
College Park, MD
A recent article in School Library Journal looks at the educational value of E-Books. ICDL is featured, and some interesting uses and studies of E-Books in schools are described.

2010

December 27, 2010 (Press)
StoryKit in New York Times
College Park, MD
The New York Times included StoryKit in their list of "top picks." StoryKit is our family-friendly iPhone app which children can use to create stories on their phone (or iPod Touch) with text, pictures and other story elements. Download it for free and give it a try.
September 15, 2010 (Project)
Letters to the First Lady
New York, NY
The ICDL Foundation and Tikatok, LLC, a subsidiary of Barnes and Noble, reached agreement to jointly market and promote a new children’s book, "Letters to the First Lady.” As part of the agreement, the Foundation will receive $1.00 per book sold. The book can be ordered at www.tikatok.com/letters.
August 19, 2010 (Technology)
ICDL search tools now available in Polish
College Park, MD
Thanks to help from our partners at the National Library of Poland, the ICDL search tools are now available in Polish. View Polish interface.
August 17, 2010 (Press)
Regardless of Format, Reading Hooks Us
Fredericksburg, VA
Read how one reference librarian in Virginia went online to the International Children's Digital Library to help a local man find books in Farsi that he could read to his children. This librarian shared, "Our [local] library could never afford to purchase the more than 4,000 children's books available free in languages from Afrikaans to Yiddish.” Read more.
July 15, 2010 (Project)
ICDL wins ALA's President's 2010 Award for International Library Innovation
Washington, DC

The International Children's Digital Library won the American Library Association President's 2010 Award for International Library Innovation. The ICDL was also named one of 25 Best Websites for Teaching and Learning by the American Association of School Librarians.
July 7, 2010 (On the Road)
Presentation at Principals' Academy
College Park, MD
Anne Rose will be giving a presentation on ICDL at the Principals' Academy, hosted by the University of Maryland's College of Education, on July 26-27. The focus of the academy is on internationalization efforts in the schools.
May 4, 2010 (Press)
"Redesigning the Web for Touch Screens" in Technology Review
April 17, 2010 (Project)
ICDL books used in Elementary Battle of the Books
Chicago, IL
The Chicago Public Schools continues to include one digital book from ICDL in each category of their annual Elementary Battle of the Books.
April 1, 2010 (Press)
"What's in my school bag?" in FutureGov, April 2010
Singapore
March 31, 2010 (Press Releases)
International Children's Digital Library and University of Maryland launch children's library iPad application
College Park, MD
The University of Maryland and the International Children's Digital Library (ICDL) Foundation have unveiled a new children's reading and library application, ICDL for iPad.
March 18, 2010
Ben Bederson and Allison Druin receive the SIGCHI Social Impact Award
Atlanta, GA
ICDL Directors Ben Bederson and Allison Druin received the prestigious SIGCHI Social Impact Award for 2010, an award that honors individuals who promote the application of human-computer interaction research for pressing social needs. This year the award was given for their joint work in a number of important areas including the development of the International Children’s Digital Library. Congratulations to Ben and Allison! Read more here.
March 12, 2010 (Technology)
ICDL for iPad
College Park, MD
We are always hard at work developing versions of the ICDL for new devices. Lately, we have been developing for the “light tablet” style computer such as Apple’s “iPad” and HP's upcoming slates. On about April 3rd, we will release a version for the new iPad. It will include the full, beautiful collection of ICDL books. You will finally be able to read ICDL books to your child sitting in your lap – or easily hold up the “books” at digital story time. These screenshots show what it looks like – very exciting!
January 25, 2010 (Collection)
19 new books added from Nicaragua
Jinotepe, Nicaragua
Libros para Niños, our first partner in Nicaragua, recently contributed 19 Spanish books to our collection. Libros is a private organization dedicated to growing in children a love of books and reading. These wonderful new titles can be read here. You can also find out more about Libros from their facebook entry.
January 25, 2010 (Collection)
Slovenian students help translate book metadata
Postojna, Slovenia
A class from Miroslav Vilhar Primary School in Slovenia, who call themselves the "Postojna Dudes", recently contributed to the ICDL by translating some of the invaluable metadata that makes the ICDL easy to use. Check out how you can help ICDL.
January 8, 2010 (On the Road)
Keynote at UNESCO Asia-Pacific Programme of Educational Innovation for Development
Hangzhou, China
Ben Bederson, ICDL Director of Technology gave the Raja Roy Singh Keynote Lecture at the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Programme of Educational Innovation for Development. Ben's talk focused on how innovations such as ICDL and StoryKit can be used to support creativity, community, and collaboration in schools.
Download Rihanna, download mp3

2009

December 8, 2009 (Press)
Sugar Labs announcement
Paris, France
The ICDL was a featured partner in the recent announcement out of Paris by Sugar Labs, the volunteer-driven nonprofit provider of the Sugar Learning Platform. They announced Sugar on a Stick, the next version of the operating system for One Laptop Per Child, now serving over one million children around the world.
October 27, 2009 (On the Road)
Presentation at Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age
Mountain View, CA
ICDL Directors Druin and Bederson presented StoryKit at the Google/Sesame Workshop, Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age as part of a panel (video) on the future of creative tools for learning.
September 14, 2009 (Technology)
StoryKit iPhone application released
College Park, MD
Create your own electronic storybook on an iPhone. ICDL Researchers at the University of Maryland have just released a new iPhone app that lets you write and share multimedia stories with text, images, sound and drawings. The app, called "StoryKit," even includes some books from the ICDL. Download for free - search for "StoryKit" in the Apple AppStore. Every time you use it, you will be helping us better understand the use and impact of the ICDL.
April 21, 2009 (On the Road)
Presentation at Dominican University
River Forest, IL
The International Children`s Digital Library -- Not Just for Children Anymore" by Director Ann Weeks
April 20, 2009 (On the Road)
Presentation at University of Illinois
Champain, IL
"From Ulann Baatar to iPhone: A Digital Library for the World's Children" by Director Ben Bederson
April 5, 2009 (On the Road)
ICDL Director Allison Druin's latest book, Mobile Technology for Children*, will be published this week by Morgan Kauffman Publishers
Allison will lead a panel of researchers from universities and industry in a discussion entitled "Mobile Technologies for the World's Children" in Boston during the ACM Conference on Computer-Human Interaction (CHI), Tuesday, April 7th. The book includes a chapter co-written by ICDL Directors Bederson and Weeks about the ICDL for iPhone application.

* "Allison Druin has brought together experts from the key perspectives on children and mobile technologies, and through these experts the reader has a chance to glimpse our future as these children are creating it." - Arnie Lund, User Experience Director, Microsoft
February 1, 2009 (On the Road)
Presentation at Tufts University
Medford, MA
"From iPhone to Ulaan Baatar: A Digital Library for the World's Children" by Director Ben Bederson
January 29, 2009 (On the Road)
New Mexico State University will conduct an online Webinar introducing the ICDL
On Thursday, January 29, 2009, the New Mexico State University will conduct an online Webinar introducing the ICDL as part of its "eLearning with Emerging Technologies: RETA Webinar Series 2008-2009." This introduction is meant for K-12 teachers and academicians. You can gather more information by going to: webinars.nmsu.edu/detail.cfm?id=32.
Presenter: Larry Jeffryes.

2008

November 19, 2008 (Press Releases)
International Children's Digital Library Launches Apple iPhone Application
College Park, MD
ICDL provides anywhere access to world's largest online children's book collection from Apple's iPhone.
November 17, 2008 (Press Releases)
International Children's Digital Library Partners to Significantly Expand European Titles in the World's Largest Online Children's Book Collection
ICDL announced a partnership with The Taliaferro Family Fund to launch an ambitious goodwill project aimed at increasing the number of European children's titles in the prestigious ICDL collection.
November 13, 2008 (Press Releases, Collection)
International Children's Digital Library Signs Historic Agreement with Google
ICDL announced that it has signed an agreement with Google to augment its vast collection of public domain children's literature with public domain titles digitized using Google's state-of-the-art scanning technology.
October 16, 2008 (On the Road)
Presentation at Maryland Association of School Librarians 2008 Annual Conference
Director Weeks and University of Maryland doctoral candidate Sheri A. Massey presented the ICDL at the Maryland Association of School Librarians 2008 Annual Conference. The presentation was designed to introduce the ICDL's newest features, ClearText and PopoutText, and to share ways the ICDL could be used in libraries or classrooms. The conference drew over 300 school library media specialists and administrators who are shaping the libraries of the future in PreK-12 education.
October 3, 2008 (Press)
"Global Foundation Offers Children's Digital Library" in Gulf-Times.com
Doha, Qatar
September 18, 2008 (Press)
"Kids Help Design International Children's Digital Library: Top holdings in English, Persian and Mongolian" in America.gov
September 1, 2008 (On the Road)
Presentation at Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA
"Black Ears to Blonde Cats: Paths for Designing Change" by Director Ben Bederon and Director Allison Druin
July 1, 2008 (Press Releases, Project)
World Bank Approves Funding for Integration of the International Children's Digital Library Content in Rural Mongolian Schools
The World Bank approved additional funding for the Integration of the ICDL in Rural Mongolian Schools. These funds will be provided to the ICDL and the One Laptop Per Child Foundation (OLPC) to enable an optimized partnership between the two organizations as they implement programs in Mongolia aimed at providing technology throughout the country's educational infrastructure. This is a continuation of the READ initiative.
June 23, 2008 (Collection)
The ICDL has a new ICDL Activities Page
The ICDL Activities page is aimed at providing the ICDL community with a variety of ways to use the library - as a child, parent, teacher, librarian or just as a children's literature enthusiast. We hope to gather these activities from ICDL users around the world. Please be sure to send us any activity you use to make the ICDL relevant to your world!
June 18, 2008 (On the Road, Story of the Week)
ICDL at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center Inaugural Symposium
June 17, 2008 (Press Releases)
International Children's Digital Library unveils breakthrough enhancements
May 1, 2008 (On the Road)
Presentation at the Manchester Public Library
Manchester by the Sea, MA
"No Road, Drive: The ICDL Travels to Mongolia" by Director Ben Bederson
April 23, 2008 (Technology)
Improving the readability of books in ICDL
Important and exciting enhancements were made to the ICDL. Thanks to a series of technical innovations developed at the University of Maryland, our books are now much easier to read. We can now display translations of books so you can read books in their original language, and in your language! The translation process is not fast, so it will take some time for all books to be translated. If you cannot wait, we encourage you to help by volunteering to translate and review books.
April 5, 2008 (On the Road)
Teaching a course at the International CHI Conference
Florence, Italy
Director Druin is teaching a course at the International CHI Conference in Florence, Italy. In her course, Dr. Druin will focus on methodologies she and her students have used to bring children actively into the design of new technologies for children; methodologies used extensively in the design of the ICDL.
April 1, 2008 (On the Road)
Presentation at the 23rd annual Computers in Libraries
Arlington, VA
Director Weeks and University of Maryland doctoral candidate Sheri Massey presented a session entitled "The ICDL - Using Technology to Expand Access to Children's Books" at the 23rd annual Computers in Libraries - the most comprehensive North American conference of library and information delivery technology. They will introduce activities to "jump start" participants' use of the ICDL in their libraries or classrooms.
March 5, 2008 (Press Releases, Collection)
International Children's Digital Library to expand its online Jewish children's books collection with four new partnerships for children the world over
March 1, 2008 (On the Road)
Presentation at Read Across America
College Park, MD
"The International Children's Digital Library: A Library for the World's Children" by Director Druin
February 25, 2008 (Press)
"Partnerships with Children's Digital Library Benefit Kids" in School Library Journal
February 25, 2008 (Press Releases, Collection)
International Children's Digital Library partners with the Alice M. Jordan Collection at Boston Public Library
February 21, 2008 (Press)
"Literary treasures, kid-friendly format" in The Boston Globe
Boston, MA
February 21, 2008 (Press Releases)
International Children's Digital Library partners with the National Science Foundation to co-sponsor the Children's Mobile Workshop

2007

November 14, 2007 (On the Road)
Keynote given at International Symposium on Computers in Education (SIIE)
Porto, Portugual
ICDL Director Allison Druin delivered the Keynote Address at the 9th edition of the International Symposium on Computers in Education (SIIE) held in Porto, Portugal. SIIE is an international forum for the presentation and debate of the latest advances in the field of Information and Communication Technologies applied to Education.
November 10, 2007 (Project, On the Road)
No road, drive: The ICDL goes to the Mongolian countryside
Mongolia
ICDL Director Ben Bederson traveled to Mongolia with Sheri Massey, a Maryland graduate student conducting ICDL research, where they worked on a World Bank-funded project to upgrade the Mongolian ICDL, installing local versions in rural schools without internet, and providing teacher training for its use.
October 30, 2007 (Collection)
Increasing Mongolian books in ICDL
In anticipation of the One Laptop Per Child launch in Mongolia this month, we have significantly increased the number of Mongolian children's books in the Library. This work has long been supported by the World Bank and the Mongolian Ministry of Education. Don't miss Director Bederson's most recent Mongolian Trip Report, "No Road, Drive", in which he enumerates the adventures and explorations of his latest efforts to set up the ICDL in rural schools.
July 18, 2007 (On the Road, Project)
Celebrating ICDL's fifth anniversary!
Durban, South Africa
The fifth anniversary of the ICDL will be celebrated at the World Library and Information Congress, sponsored by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) in Durban, South Africa in August 2007. ICDL Advisory Board member, Pam Berger, and ICDL Director, Ann Weeks, will join with members of the Standing Committee on Libraries for Children and Young Adults, to highlight the development of the project and demonstrate how the ICDL is being used in schools and libraries around the world.
July 18, 2007 (On the Road)
Presentation at the U.S. State Department's Annual Conference for Information Resource Officers
Washington, DC, US
Director Weeks presented at the U.S. State Department's Annual Conference for Information Resource Officers, a group that acts as advisors and consultants for US Embassy and Consulate libraries worldwide.
April 18, 2007 (Project)
ICDL at The Library of Congress
Washington, DC
Directors Bederson, Druin and Weeks visited the Library of Congress (LC) recently for discussions about the ongoing relationship between the two organizations. Topics included LC's World Digital Library, an ICDL presence inside the LC, and the creation of a special collection of children's books.
April 14, 2007 (On the Road)
Presentation at Libraries and New Information Formats in Digital Spaces
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Director Weeks attended the "Libraries and New Information Formats in Digital Spaces" hosted by the Iberoamerican Congress of Librarians, where she presented a lecture, "Linking the World through an International Collection of Children's Books." Director Weeks also attended the 2007 Buenos Aires Book Fair.
February 5, 2007 (On the Road)
ICDL travels to Egypt
Cairo, Egypt
Director Weeks travels back to Cairo this month to present and demonstrate the ICDL at the 39th Cairo International Book Fair.
February 5, 2007 (Project)
White Ravens database updated
Work has been completed between the Foundation and the International Youth Library, the largest children's book collection in the world, to update the ICDL's White Ravens catalog of award-winning books. Eighteen of those books are freely available in the ICDL.
February 5, 2007 (On the Road)
ICDL travels to Israel
Tel Aviv, Israel
Director Druin travels this month to Tel Aviv to deliver a speech, "Understanding Children as Users of New Technologies", to the Usability Professionals Association of Israel.
February 5, 2007 (Project)
ICDL at the World Bank
Washington, DC
Foundation Directors Druin and Browne were invited to the World Bank, which introduced the ICDL to Mongolia's READ project, to hear and meet Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Global Libraries' Director Martha Choe.

2006

December 30, 2006 (Press Releases)
New OLPC Laptop is the focus of attention as ICDL's kids team
December 8, 2006 (On the Road, Collection)
Meetings to increase Arabic books in ICDL
Cairo, Egypt
ICDL Director of Collection Development, Ann Weeks, just returned from Egypt where Madame Farida El Wakil Reedy, Secretary General of the Integrated Care Society, sponsored meetings focused on increasing the number of books in Arabic in the ICDL. While in Egypt, Dr. Weeks also met with the Directors of the Children's Library and the Young People's Library at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina about expanding cooperative projects between the Library and the ICDL.
December 7, 2006 (On the Road)
White House Tree Lighting Ceremony
Washington, DC
ICDL Junior Librarians Dana and Steven joined US President George Bush and First Lady Laura Bush in the President's Box for the White House Tree Lighting Ceremony Thursday December 7, 2006. ICDL Directors Ben Bederson and Allison Druin accompanied Dana and Steven.
December 6, 2006 (Collection)
The Polish Internet Library to contribute books to ICDL
Warsaw, Poland
The Polish Internet Library, one of the world largest and most ambitious digital repositories, has made available its first set of Polish children's work to the ICDL.
December 1, 2006 (On the Road)
Presentation for the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Potomac Chapter
Bethesda, MD
"A Library for the World's Children" by Directory Ben Bederson
August 22, 2006 (Collection)
Visit the Baldwin Collection of Historical Children's Literature, ICDL's first Special Collection
June 19, 2006 (On the Road, Project)
No Hotel, Tent: The ICDL Goes to Mongolia
Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia
March 28, 2006 (Collection)
Five new books added from Hungary and Peru
March 22, 2006 (Technology)
Introducing our new URL: www.childrenslibrary.org
February 27, 2006 (Collection)
Nine new books added from Iran and Mongolia
February 15, 2006 (Technology)
Introducing a new and improved Standard Book Reader
February 9, 2006 (Collection)
Ten new books added from Iran written in Persian / Farsi
January 24, 2006 (Collection)
Seventeen new books added from Iran written in Persian / Farsi
January 18, 2006 (Technology)
Introducing new Advanced Search functionality

2005

December 16, 2005 (Technology)
Introducing the ICDL Book of the Day at Google
December 7, 2005 (Collection)
Nine new books added from Mongolia and the American Indian Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe
November 29, 2005 (Collection)
33 new books added from New Zealand and Germany
November 28, 2005 (Technology)
Introducing multilingual metadata for dozens of books
November 18, 2005 (Press)
"The 'millennials' usher in a new era" in CNET News.com
October 26, 2005 (Technology)
Introducing our redesigned Web site, a customizable bookshelf, and a new interface language
October 26, 2005 (Press Releases)
The International Children's Digital Library launches redesigned web site
October 25, 2005 (Collection)
Nine new books added from Portugal, Peru, France, and Iran
September 15, 2005 (Project)
Read the latest usage statistics with the revised Fast Facts sheet
September 9, 2005 (Collection)
Nine new books added from Croatia, Peru, Germany, and Iran
September 1, 2005 (Press)
"Screen time=reading time" in Chicago Parent
August 19, 2005 (Collection)
31 new books added, representing Spanish, Croatian, Persian/Farsi, German, and French languages
August 5, 2005 (Project)
CLIS awarded prestigious IMLS grant
August 1, 2005 (Press)
"Kid-Friendly" in Fed Tech
July 29, 2005 (Collection)
53 new books added from Malaysia, Iran, Kenya, and more!
June 22, 2005 (Collection)
20 new books added from Malaysia, Peru, and more!
June 1, 2005 (Collection)
95 new books added from Iran, Peru, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, and more, including several award-winners!
May 26, 2005 (Press Releases)
ICDL: Continuing to grow worldwide
May 25, 2005 (Technology)
The ICDL searching and reading tools now available in nine languages
April 1, 2005 (Press)
"Explore the world by turning pages" in Chicago Parent
March 17, 2005 (Collection)
19 new books in Spanish, German, and Quechua added to the collection
February 28, 2005 (Press)
"New chapter in online books" in The Washington Times
February 17, 2005 (Collection)
13 new books in Quechua, Hebrew, and Filipino added to the collection
February 1, 2005 (Press)
"Showing Google the Way" in School Library Journal
February 1, 2005 (Press)
"Technology's Inner Child" in MIT Technology Review

2004

December 15, 2004 (Collection)
73 new books in Persian/Farsi and Yiddish added to the collection
December 2, 2004 (Project)
ICDL throws a birthday party in New Zealand to celebrate its second anniversary
November 8, 2004 (Collection)
37 new books in Serbian, Hebrew, Persian/Farsi, and Spanish added to the collection
October 18, 2004 (Technology)
Introducing two new search interfaces: "Simple" and "Advanced
July 6, 2004 (Press)
"Yours for the Taking" in School Library Journal
June 11, 2004 (Collection)
112 new books added representing 10 languages, including Japanese, Portuguese, Serbian, Yiddish, and more
May 24, 2004 (Project)
New video released: "What children have taught us"
April 9, 2004 (Project)
White Ravens database published
February 6, 2004 (Technology)
New version of ICDL Basic released

2003

December 22, 2003 (Collection)
52 new books in Persian/Farsi, Russian, Vietnamese and more added to the collection
December 2, 2003 (Technology)
New version of ICDL Basic supports multiple languages
December 1, 2003 (Project)
Latest usage statistics released
November 20, 2003 (Project)
Celebrating our 1st Anniversary!
October 1, 2003 (Project)
How are people using ICDL?
September 22, 2003 (Press)
"Children as Design Partners" at Australian Broadcasting Network
July 15, 2003 (Technology)
Further enhancements to ICDL Basic
May 31, 2003 (Press Releases)
New service launches to support summer reading programs
May 28, 2003 (Technology)
Introducing a more widely accessible version of ICDL: "ICDL Basic"
April 3, 2003 (Collection)
Four new books added from the Library of Congress
March 18, 2003 (Collection)
Seven new books added from the Library of Congress

2002

December 18, 2002 (Collection)
Five new books added from the Library of Congress
December 5, 2002 (Press)
"Online Library Project Plans a Digital and Cultural Trove for Children" in The New York Times
November 27, 2002 (Press)
"Digital library to unite kids through global e-literature" in USA Today
November 21, 2002 (Press)
"Website brings free children's library online" in The Guardian
November 21, 2002 (Press)
"Online Library for Children Aims for 10,000 Titles and Child-Friendly Design, With Professors' Help" in The Chronicle of Higher Education
November 21, 2002 (Press)
"A Library For Young Browsers" in The Washington Post
November 20, 2002 (Project, Technology, Collection)
Introducing the International Children's Digital Library (aka "ICDL")
November 19, 2002 (Press)
"Tales of Oz, Wonderland Go Online" in Wired News
November 18, 2002 (Press)
"Library for Kids Goes Online" at National Public Radio
November 18, 2002 (Press Releases)
Online library will open new worlds for children everywhere
October 1, 2002 (Press)
"U of MD Creates International Digital Library" in School Library Journal

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