INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S DIGITAL LIBRARY TO DEBUT NOV. 20
Project will put children's literature online

Children's Book Press will be in Washington, D.C. on November 20 to help celebrate the opening of the International Children's Digital Library (ICDL). The ceremony will be held in the Library of Congress's Great Hall at 10 First Street, S.E., from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. The ICDL is a Web site project (www.icdlbooks.org) that will eventually make more than 10,000 children's books from around the world freely available online. At its launch the ICDL will contain two-hundred digitized books in fifteen languages and representing twenty-seven cultures. Children's Book Press and other contributors, such as the Library of Congress's Rare Books and Special Collections division, HarperCollins Publishers Inc., Random House, and Scholastic, have all donated books to the ICDL.

Children's Book Press has been involved with the ICDL from its inception. To insure that a large number of children worldwide have access to their books, Children's Book Press have given the ICDL use of nineteen books, including From the Bellybutton of the Moon and Other Summer Poems by Francisco X. Alarcón, i see the rhythm by Michelle Wood, and The Upside Down Boy by Juan Felipe Herrera. A Children's Book Press book will be used at the opening of the ICDL.

The International Children's Digital Library, developed by the Internet Archive and the University of Maryland, provides a prestigious collection of international literature for children around the world. The primary purpose of the library is to provide access to literature that can enable children to understand the world around them and the global society in which they live. The materials included in the collection reflect the similarities and differences in cultures, societies, interests, lifestyles, aspirations, and priorities of peoples around the world. Its primary audiences are children ages 3-13, librarians, teachers, parents, caregivers, and others concerned with the interests and welfare of children. The Library of Congress and the American Library Association are ICDL partners. The project is supported by the National Science Foundation, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Kahle/Austin Foundation, Adobe Systems Inc. and the Markle Foundation.

Robert Langdon, Director of Sales and Marketing for Children's Book Press says, "As nonprofit organizations, both Children's Book Press and ICDL are working to achieve very similar goals-to provide literature to children in need. We are honored to have been included in this project at an early stage and are very excited about offering our stories to children throughout the world via the ICDL." Children's Book Press is also excited about the use of technology to promote books and reading. Children's Book Press has recently installed free online Teacher's Guides curricula for their newer books on their own website (www.childrensbookpress.org). These books will now also be available online through the ICDL.

Children's Book Press is a nonprofit publisher of quality children's literature from Latino, African American, Asian American and Native American communities. At its inception in 1975, Children's Book Press was a pioneer in the field of bilingual, multicultural books, and has as its mission the creating an authentic "literature of inclusion" that give young people a sense of their own ethnic history and importance. The press focuses on publishing contemporary stories of children from these communities in the United States.

Contact: Children's Book Press: Rachel Sussman, (415) 821-3080 x13, Rsussman@childrensbookpress.org
Internet Archive: Jeff Ubois (510) 843-3733