WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama announced Thursday that major book publishers will provide more than $250 million in free e-books to low-income students and that he is seeking commitments from local governments and schools nationwide to provide library cards to all students.
Obama announced the initiatives at a library in Washington’s economically depressed Anacostia neighborhood. The initiatives are tied to his ConnectEd program, a 2-year-old effort to boost educational outcomes by improving digital connectivity.
“We’re going to provide millions of e-books online so that they’re available for young people who maybe don’t have as many books at home or don’t always have access to a full stock of reading materials,” Obama said during a virtual town hall sponsored by Discovery Education.
Obama told the students that how well they do in life is going to depend on whether they love reading and learning, and whether they know how to find information and use it.
The best way to do that in an Internet age, he said, is “making sure that you’re plugged in.”