Introduction

This chapter will focus specifically on the role of early years library work in the digital age. Digital media is now ubiquitous in the developed world. While the ‘digital divide’ remains glaringly apparent between society's most affluent and most underprivileged (Neuman and Celano, 2012), the wide availability of digital technology means that more and more children across a range of socio-economic and cultural groups now have access to digital tools in their daily lives with their families. How and why does this concern early years library staff? Simply put, just as libraries provide guidance about and free access to books and older-format audiovisual materials, so too should libraries provide guidance about and access to a range of digital resources from which families and the caregivers of young children can select what best suits their needs.

Digital media (sometimes called new media) exists and is being used by children in our communities in a variety of ways. In order to ensure that children are able to access the best that digital media has to offer, it is critical that communities can rely on the expertise of the children's librarian. In particular, tablet computers such as iPads, and the applications (apps) that are designed to run on them, represent an area of particular promise for early years libraries. Many of these apps are ‘book-based’, and this represents a natural place for early years library collections to jump into the digital realm. This chapter will focus on approaches to learning about tablets and apps and how they might be incorporated into your existing early years work in libraries.

Surveying the landscape of digital media in early childhood

While it would perhaps be reassuring to be able to use well-researched and proven best practices to make collection, programme and services decisions about digital media in early years library work, its rapid development over the past few years has not allowed research in this area of early childhood to play catch-up. However, due to its ubiquity and the fact that the marketplace for apps is both confusing and chaotic, the role that the library can play in helping families navigate this new digital media landscape has never been more important.