The International Children's Digital Library Foundation (ICDL) is a free online library of digitized
children's books in 59 languages from many countries. It is housed by the International Children's Digital Library Foundation and was originally developed at the
University of Maryland, College Park.
History
The International Children's Digital Library was initially launched in November 2002 under the direction of University of Maryland Computer Science professor Dr.
Allison Druin
Allison Druin is an American computer scientist who studies human–computer interaction, and digital libraries, particularly focusing on children's use of educational technology.
She is a professor emerita at the University of Maryland, College P ...
and in collaboration with researchers from other fields, such as information studies, art, psychology, and education, in order to better understand children's online habits and to encourage a love of reading and increased literacy. Children from
Bowie,
Maryland, tested the original
Java prototype from 1999–2002, and since then children from five locations around the world have also contributed to the design process as the library's "Kidsteam Program".
The 2002-2005 phase of development saw a working model of the Library accessed by over one million users around the world and home to 1,000 books. Funding initially came from the
National Science Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
In April 2006, the International Children's Digital Library became part of the newly formed International Children's Digital Library Foundation, a non-profit corporation under the leadership of Tim Browne as Executive Director and original project leaders Dr. Allison Druin,
Dr. Ben Bederson, and Dr. Ann Weeks as Directors. The Library's principal support comes from the
Library of Congress,
National Science Foundation, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and
Microsoft Research
Microsoft Research (MSR) is the research subsidiary of Microsoft. It was created in 1991 by Richard Rashid, Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold with the intent to advance state-of-the-art computing and solve difficult world problems through technologi ...
.
In April 2021, after almost 20 years of existence, it was decided to take the service offline. However, the website went online again the next month with only the static content available.
Description
The ICDL is a free online library of digitized
children's books in 59 languages
from various countries. Designed specifically for use by children ages 3 to 13, the Library is housed by the International Children's Digital Library Foundation. It was originally developed in the
College of Information Studies and the
Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the
University of Maryland, College Park.
Books are selected based on quality and appropriateness and are presented in their original language with copyright permission from publishers or authors. The Library's ultimate goal is to foster a love of reading, a readiness to learn, and a response to the challenges of world literacy.
Children can search for books by country, language, length, intended age group, content type, and emotional quality, among other qualifiers. An advanced search option is also provided for more experienced or older users, and all users can register to save search preferences and favorite books.
The ICDL also hosts an online catalog of all
White Ravens
The White Ravens is a catalog annually published by International Youth Library as a recommendation list for child and youth literature. An annual White Ravens catalog is introduced each year at the Bologna Children's Book Fair in Italy.
Selection ...
titles between 1993 to 2007, in collaboration with the
International Youth Library.
References
ICDL goals
External links
The International Children's Digital Library websiteInternational Board on Books for Young PeopleBaldwin Children's Digital Library
which contributes to ICDL
{{Authority control
Discipline-oriented digital libraries
Children's libraries
American digital libraries