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 Working with publishers and libraries, the White House sees the
modest plan as part of a strategy to address inner city problems by
increasing educational opportunities for kids - woes brought into
focus with recent riots in nearby Baltimore.
"If we're serious about living up to what our country is about, then
we have to consider what we can do to provide opportunities in every
community, not just when they're on the front page, but every day,"
said Jeff Zients, Obama's top economic adviser, in a briefing with
reporters.
Zients cited research showing 80 percent of low-income children lag
below their grade level in reading skills and lack books at home.
The president will be visiting Anacostia Library in Southeast
Washington, DC.
 The plan includes $250 million in e-book commitments from
publishers, including from the five major publishing houses:
Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH's Macmillan, CBS Corp's
Simon & Schuster Inc, Penguin Random House, Lagardere SCA's Hachette
Book Group Inc, and News Corp's HarperCollins Publishers LLC.
The New York Public Library is developing an app to connect
low-income kids with the books, and Obama will urge more communities
to find ways to get kids into libraries.
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Kids will need computers and devices to read the e-books. Zients
noted the White House had previously announced programs to upgrade
Internet services for schools and libraries, with private sector
help from companies including Apple, which pledged $100 million in
devices to low-income schools.
"It's very different than for our generation," said Cecilia Munoz,
Obama's domestic policy adviser.
"More and more, you're going to be seeing kids using devices, and
what we're doing is making sure that there's more books available on
those devices," Munoz told reporters.
(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Bernard Orr)
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