Susan Neuman and Donna Celano31 described one of the most discouraging studies to date about digital access in their report of an initiative within libraries in Philadelphia. The noble intention of the study was to investigate the effects of providing books and digital access in libraries to underserved children and families. The results ran counter to every hoped-for outcome: simply providing access to digital tools to underserved children could actually have deleterious effects, if there was no participation by parents. The children in that study did significantly worse on tests of literacy
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