Touching LiteracyiPads in the school library serving incarcerated

and detained youth

ALA Anaheim, CA

June 2012

Our Agenda

•Presentation

•Q and A session

• iPad petting zoo

•Raffle

Our Big IdeaHow can we lay the groundwork for

providing our patrons with access to ereading and tablet technology in our unique school environments?

Where We WorkSecure facilities:Horizon Juvenile CenterCrossroads Juvenile

Center

Non-secure facilities:Barbara BlumBoys TownBoys Town AssessmentBrooklyn Residential

CenterProject HavenLGBTQSummit

Located in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx

Who We AreA team of five

Three certified School LibrariansOne Instructional Technology Specialist/Library Assistant

One Libraries and Literacy Coordinator

What We Do Author & Artist Visits

Tonya BoldenCoe BoothMatt de la PenaPaul GriffinR. Kikuo JohnsonDream JordanSusan KuklinTorrey MaldonadoChristopher MyersWalter Dean MyersGreg NeriPaolo RiveraNed VizziniJesse Joshua WatsonPaul Volponi (via Skype)Alex SimmonsEllen Hopkins (via Skype)

What We Do: Community Partnerships

Literacy for Incarcerated

Teens

What We Do: Website

What We Do: Blog

Who We ServeNew York City's incarcerated and

detained youth ages 11-17

•80% male

•66% of African descent

•33% Latino/a

Which brings us back to . . .

Our Big Idea

•Access to new technology

Furthermore...We wondered:

Would our students be more excited about reading if they had a new reading device in their hands?

How can we provide access?

Nice idea, but why?Why was this important?

Why was this important to us?

What was our primary goal?

Got it! But why iPads?Timeline:2007-- Amazon releases Kindle ereader2009-- B&N releases 1st Nook2010 January-- Apple releases iPad2011 January--Passages' proposal for

pilot receives fundingApril 2011-- Amazon announces readers

will be able to access library books on Kindles

Getting Started - You Can't Sell What You Don't Know

LIT partnershipWhy secure outside funding?

Initial phase pilotSchool librarians as guinea pigs and lab rats?

Which led to...

Literacy for Incarcerated

Teens

Awesome App Reviews

Moving Forward/2nd Phase•Five devices per library

•Independent reading focused

•Not content-area specific

Moving Forward/2nd PhaseWhy?

oDevice management

oManaging apps to support the content areas fairly and equitably

oClassroom management

Collection Development - FundingContent is expensive!

Copyright on institutional devices

Funding Collection development

Collection Development - GuidelinesGuiding Questions

Who will be reading on our iPads?

Where will they be reading on our iPads?

Collection Development - ProcessDivide and Conquer

•Fiction

•Non-fiction

•Comics/Manga

Collection Development - Fiction and NonfictionVisually appealingEpisodicHigh interestPopularFills an information need

Reading in iBooks

Reading in iBooks

Reading in iBooks

Listening in iTunes

Reading in iBooks

Collection Development - Comics and MangaPopular superheroesComic universe special eventsIsolated storylinesShort storylines

Reading in Comixology

Comixology's Guided View

Reading in VizMedia

Collection Development - ResultsPoetry (5)Short Stories (8)Novels (9)Biographies (4)Advice (6)Art/Visually Appealing

(3)Humor (2)Narrative nonfiction (2)The Unexplained (2)

Comics (168)Manga(77)

Are our collection development lists perfect?Top 20 most popular books in Passages Academy Libraries:• Tyrell• Snitch• Rikers High• 16 on the

Block• Street Pharm• Homeboyz• A Girl Like

Me• Kendra• Upstate

• 16 1/2 on the Block

• Played• Bronxwood• If I was Your

Girl• Shortie Like

Mine• Teenage Love

Affair• Black and White

• Push• Upgrade U• The Little

Black Book for Guys

• The Rose that Grew from Concrete

How does PAL popularity translate onto the iPad?Those available in iBooks:

• Rikers High• A Girl Like Me• Upstate• If I Was Your Girl

Those with audiobooks:• Homeboyz

• Upstate• Push• The Little Black Book For Guys• The Rose That Grew From

Concrete

• Shortie Like Mine• Teenage Love Affair• Upgrade U

Data Collection

Data-driven system

Qualitative and quantitative data

Uh-Oh...

The RolloutJanuary 2012

Every class at our three largest sitesa. Lessonb. Assessmentc. Explorationd. Survey

Did we say safe and manageable?Protocols

What did we learn?

••They want magazines!

•They don't care that they can't finish a novel in half an hour!

•They want to use the iPads to their full potential!

Kids want internet!

Collection Development - 2nd RoundPoetry (0)Short Stories (0)Novels (20)Biographies (5)Advice (1)Art/Visually Appealing

(5)Humor (2)Narrative nonfiction

(2)High Interest Facts (1)

Comics(672)Manga(71)

ResultsWere we a hit or a miss?

Next Steps•add magazine content

•add wireless service to libraries

•develop strategies for adding apps to support curriculum in the content areas