CILIP’s Public and Mobile Libraries Group December Newsletter reported on the the National Literacy Trust’s second annual survey of parents and practitioners on Children’s early literacy practices at home and in early years settings. The report makes for very interesting reading.

The Report suggests that the latest survey data indicated that ‘technology may provide a route in to reading for children of lower socioeconomic status’. Children from poorer households were found to spend twice as long reading stories on a touch screen than from printed sources. Moreover, twice as many boys than girls claimed to read more stories on a touch screen than in print. It would appear that early theories about the advantages of digital technologies for engaging hard-to-reach readers are now supported by the statistics.

It is important to note however that the recommended approach is still, very much a blended one: ‘in general, young children are more likely to have above average vocabulary attainment if they look at or read both printed stories and stories on a touch screen’.