 | E-mail this story |  | Write letter to editor |  | Order a classified ad |
| E-mail this story | | Write letter to editor | | Order a classified ad |
Commissioner Peter Irniq announced the plan during last week's national Literacy Week events.
Four people within Nunavut's library system welcomed the news.
In Clyde River, the community librarian says the facility's computers are more popular with kids than their paper counterparts.
"(It is probably) because they can get information through the Internet faster," librarian Irene Sanguya said, adding that kids may be likely to read more often if the selection was improved.
She thinks non-fiction books about Canada and other subjects are what the library could use most.
In Rankin Inlet, kids between the ages of four and 16 use the library quite often during an after-school program.
But adult visits are not nearly as frequent, said Rankin Inlet's community service librarian Jennifer Brown.
Comedy books, such as those by author Robert Munsch, are what would be most appreciated, but "the kids appreciate any of the books that come here," she said.
As in other communities, using the Internet on the Rankin library's four or five working computers is more popular than reading a book.
Over in Gjoa Haven, Qiqirtaq school principal Ian Critchley said the library is "not being used well at all. We have no one to look after it."
He does not think more books will help solve the problem.
But if children are not reading, executive director of Kitikmeot school operations Millie Kuliktana thinks it could be because the Inuit culture has always made use of oral storytelling.
"Teaching young parents how to read to their kids is something new," she said.
She thinks that kids should be encouraged to read anything that interests them, whether it is advertisements about snowmobiles or popular mechanics.
The popularity of computers should not necessarily be seen as a problem.
"Reading is also encouraged through computers," she said.
