Los Angeles Public Library Kids' Web Page
Staff -- School Library Journal, 2/1/1999
Los Angeles Public Library Kids' Web Page
www.lapl.org/admin/kidsweb/index.html
The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) is on the Web in a big way. A site this well-developed needed a kids' page that could live up to visitors' expectations -- and this colorful, well-designed, bilingual site does just that. That's why I've selected it as the SLJ Online Library Web Site of the Month.
LAPL put up its site in 1996, and at the same time each library branch received 10 Net-capable PCs. That was when the children's services staff, headed up by Anne Connor aconnor@lapl.org, realized that kids needed a site of their own.
The site offers a children's guide to LAPL, links to "cool"sites, a recommended reading section, a resource section for "adults who care about kids," and a Spanish Kids' Page www.lapl.org/admin/kidsweb/spanish/index-e.htmlThe library's entire Web site became bilingual in 1998, and Sylvia Morales, a librarian in LAPL's multilingual services department, translated the finalized Kids' Web Page and added selected Spanish-language sites. Connor and her staff felt that a Spanish version of the page was essential. The "Cool Sites for Kids" page also has a section of links in Spanish.
The Kids' Web Page is now the home page for all the PCs in LAPL's children's areas. Connor's next goal is to find enough time to make this personable site even more interesting. She hopes to make room for artwork by LAPL's young users and make the site more interactive. -- Walter Minkel wmink@teleport.com, Multnomah County (OR) Library School Corps Technology Trainer.
