While the rest of us plebes wait around for the price of an iPad 2 to finally drop to 50 bucks on eBay, lucky tot patrons at the Park Slope Brooklyn Public Library branch will soon get four iPads. The library, which has been closed for renovations since 2009 and is set to finally reopen this Thursday, will be offering (very) young readers the chance to play around with everyone's favorite tech toy as they sip on their babyccinos.
Library officials say the tablets will be aimed towards children as young as two years old and as old as eight, and will all be loaded with interactive kiddie lit apps, like one based on Harold and the Purple Crayon and another on The Cat in the Hat. The iPads will also offer educational tools for parents, like instructional videos on how to sing the "Eensy Weensy Spider," if they haven't committed its complex lyrics to memory already, and tips on getting kids started on learning how to read. But Moooom, do they have Angry Birds? Do they?!
Though there's been some concern among parents and educators about the adverse effects of staring at a screen too long, many child development researchers think an iPad's interactive nature might actually help children learn. Either way, we hope the Park Slope Library teaches its younger patrons the finer points of responsible iPad use, like how to keep your shiny $800 toy from being stolen on the subway.
