We agree with New York Times columnist, Matt Richel when he points out that: "As access to devices has spread, children in poorer families are spending considerably more time than children from more well-off families using their television and gadgets to watch shows and videos, play games and connect on social networking sites, studies show."
And we love the idea of professionals in libraries to mitigate that gap. However his "gap" in understanding becomes obvious in describing the FCC's new initiative to create a "digital literacy corps." "The new divide is such a cause of concern for the Federal Communications Commission that it is considering a proposal to spend $200 million to create a digital literacy corps. This group of hundreds, even thousands, of trainers would fan out to schools and libraries to teach productive uses of computers for parents, students and job seekers."
I agree with Joyce Valenza in her blog post
http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/neverendingsearch/2012/05/31/arent-we-already-the-digital-literacy-corps/ and Fran Bullington in her blog post http://informania.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/calling-school-librarians-to-action-another-attempt-to-undermine-our-jobs/. Please join me in sending emails to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski at Julius.Genachowski@fcc.gov. Let's be clear that WE ARE the digital literacy corps. WE can bridge this gap ... if we have jobs and resources. We already have the training, the curriculum and the dedication. Support for library programs with certified librarians at their helm is the answer. Fran Bullington has shared her message to Chairman Genachowski and invites us to copy/adapt it. Nina Levine
