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From: Becky Morse <...@cleburne.net" moz-do-not-send="true">Beck...@cleburne.net>
Date: Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 1:46 PM
Subject: [PY] AWE Early Literacy Stations compilation
To: "...@lists.lis.illinois.edu" moz-do-not-send="true">pub...@lists.lis.illinois.edu" <...@lists.lis.illinois.edu" moz-do-not-send="true">pub...@lists.lis.illinois.edu>


Here's the feedback on the AWE Early Literacy Stations. Thanks so much to everyone who responded. Overall feedback is very positive and highly recommend getting these. My only next course of action is to look into HATCH, which I hear is similar but less expensive.

Here you go:



My library has them and the kids and adults love them! I've set mine to a limit of twenty minutes and for the most part people self monitor, are fair and I've seen people cooperate and really enjoy them. They are kid friendly, age appropriate and just wonderful an worth the investment.

We've had them about a month or two.  We really like the fact that we can set them to turn on and off automatically at whatever time we choose.  They are very kid AND staff friendly -- no CDs to put in and take out!  Parents are also pleased with the variety of games and the fact that kids can access selected websites that are fixed so that they can't link from them to OTHER sites.  The only time we've noticed a problem with that is when we were looking through the New York Times for kids site and came across the pictures from the Glee calendar.  Other than that, we are very happy with them.

We have both AWE stations and HATCH stations.  When one of our branches has money for an early literacy station I give them the contacts for both companies, let them do their own research, and make their own decision.  For whatever reason (and I do have my thoughts on this that I will share if you are interested) our branches have been selecting HATCH for the last several years.  AWE has put a lot of time and money into developing the library market for their packages.  HATCH built their base in early childhood education, including many Head Start centers.  Both companies have a kid friendly product which works well in our libraries.  They are popular with children and parents and we will continue to add them as funds are available.

We have been very happy with ours. We got it without the printer and no one has missed it.  Most of the games don't require it and we have other computers for homework. If you plan to provide headsets, don't buy theirs--they have foam covered ear pads than cannot be wiped off with disinfectant between uses.  We posted a sign asking patrons to bring their own in.  I've noticed that the kids have fun with the programs, even without the sound. Our computer is right next to the librarians desk, so we did not want the sound playing out loud.  You might be able to put yours in a place where that isn't an issue. Overall, I found AWE's promise of "plug it in and it works with no problems" to be true.

We started with 2 AWE stations a couple of years ago and were so pleased we added 2 more last year. They are frequently all full. They are simple enough for toddlers, but also have some programs that appeal to school age children. Even our "special friends" (learning challenged teens and adults) seem to like them. The only problem we have had is with the printers; we have finally removed them. There is no way to charge for copies and we were going through a lot of paper and ink. We have had to replace a couple of mice and earphones can be an issue (most of the time we just remove the earphones and use the build in speakers.

The Early Literacy Station is just great.  We now have two and would love to have a third one.  Very kid friendly and good for the library. Programs are all  loaded just plug and play.  Get some STURDY headphones (we like CALIFONE). The yearly update package is something you have to figure in your budget every year.

Yes, we have 2 of them at our public library.  They get TONS of use, and the preloaded software on them is very educational.  Unfortunately, one of the stations we have has been out of commission for about 3-4 months now (I think because of heavy usage and abuse), and because of budget cuts, we can't afford to fix it right now.  Nevertheless, I would highly recommend getting one.  They are very kid friendly.  The only negative thing I would say about them is that it's sometimes difficult to figure out how to exit from a program--but other than that, they're great!

 Our library system recently purchased Early Literacy materials for the branch I just left. The kids love them!  They are especially nice for those kids whose parents plop them down and expect them to behave for lengthy time periods while they are computers.  It has really helped out with issues regarding bored children.  Be advised that 8 - 10 year olds will use the materials too.  Which may not be a bad thing, except you have you watch to make sure they don't hog the material.  We try to encourage the kids to play with the little ones and help them if they need it. It has worked so far.   The down side is the stuff gets scattered all over the place and frequent picking up is needed.  The materials and their housing unit was ordered through two different companies.  Kaplan and Lakeshore Learning.  I believe they both have web sites.

We've had ours (6 of them) for over 6 months now, and we're pretty happy with them, and so are our patrons.  They're bright and friendly-looking, plus they're fairly intuitive, so we staff don't have to spend much time at all showing people how to use them, or doing any hand-holding (yay!). Plus, I've been very impressed with their durability - at least 3 times already, a child has knocked one over (a pretty inevitable consequence of 3 year olds using touchscreens, I'm afraid), and they've been fine, no worse for wear.

We just got one of these in August and I absolutely LOVE it!  The programs on it are suitable for toddlers up through 4th-5th grade as it includes an encyclopedia and some art programs that older kids would enjoy and find useful.  We got the all-in-one that has the touch screen which is really wonderful for those kids who can't manipulate the mouse yet and our mouse broke so we were still able to use it while we waited for the replacement to arrive.  I didn't get the printer as I only have a small space for the computer but there is an option that allows you to network to a printer but I haven't set that up yet.  No one has asked to print but I think it has Wordpad so people may wish to have it if you get that kind of use.  Our patrons really are enjoying it and it's getting a lot of use. The only disappointment is that we are not able to use the ELF safe browser as the way the ELS is configured to connect to the internet does not work with the way our network is set up.

We just got rid of our AWE station due to frequent malfunctions. Evidently they are very expensive to repair/upgrade. Quite a few of our parents have commented that they like the department better without the computers as we have a large variety of toys, puzzles and games available and their parents would rather have them play in that way or be involved in picking out their books. Just my personal take on the subject.

We have an ELS from AWE here, and it is by far one of the biggest kid attractions, actually causing some fights among the kids for their time on the computer!  At the moment, I am in process to apply for a grant to get 2 of the new ELS for our children's department, as ours is now passed the warranty.  The new ones (hopefully) will solve our fighting problems, as they have a timer you can set.  Also, there are MANY more books available for the children to listen to on the new software.  Have you looked at the ELF browser?  We're excited here about the new machines, and hopefully *prays diligently* we'll get the grant so we can purchase them.

We have one here and everyone loves it. They have great technical support so I never have to worry about having to fix it or do much troubleshooting. We have had ours since 2007 and the only thing that has had to be replaced is the tiny mouse. They sent us a replacement mouse at no cost. Now, less than a year later the replacement mouse is broken-not sure if it was just a really strong kid or if the mice aren't made as well anymore. Either way, it's just a mouse and can be pretty easily replaced. Parents and kids like the games and constantly ask where they can find them to buy for their home computers. We've been very satisfied!

We have the AWE Early Literacy computers in our children's area and they are well-used.  Parents and children alike LOVE them and it is rare that the computers are not being used.  They are very user-friendly and the kids/parents catch on really easily.  We have headphones hooked up to stations for patrons to use as well.

We have 5 AWE computer stations and love them.  Our library has had them for the past 3 years.   All games are pre-loaded - no discs to change, get scratched. Mouse is child sized with color coded buttons to make it easier for kids learning to use a mouse.  The usual age range  of children that use them in our library is 2-6 with most of the users 4-5 year olds.   We subscribe to AWE's update service so get once a year updates on games available.  Our AWE stations get a lot of use and I would recommend them.

We have had the Awe Early Literacy Stations at our library for about a year now. They are very popular. The kids really seem to love them and they are rarely unoccupied. We did get questions when they were first installed on how to use them, but they are so user friendly that we rarely get questions now. I think the only time is when a kid accidentally does something like tries to print (which we don't have installed) or something like that. Kids love them because they are fun and parents love them because they are educational. I recommend them.

We received two Early Literacy Stations at our library about three months ago and they have been wonderful.  They get a lot of use and seem to be pretty durable.  We have the touch screen version and they work great.  We also put a time limit of 30 minutes on our to be consistent with our internet computers.  We opted out of getting the printer because we knew it would end up being pretty wasteful.  We also didn't get the child friendly internet browser but that it something we might add on down the road.  My library system just received a grant and now all the libraries will be receiving an Early Literacy Station.  I highly recommend them!

We have had AWE computers at the Berkeley Public Library for quite a few years, now. They are unbelievably popular, even for some older kids (I'd say up to 9 or so). The little ones absolutely adore them, and if there is anything negative to say about them, it's that it's hard to peel the kids off of them. Some parents object (of course) because they want their kids to be interested in books, not computers, but with very few exceptions most of the kids who use the AWE computers are also very much into books. We had some trouble with breakdowns and the sound system-i.e. we had a monitor die and we've lost several "mice" through hard use-but otherwise, it's been a solid addition to our children's room. The sound system issue is due to the fact that the kids are so wiggly when they're using the headphones that eventually the connection gets wiggly, too. And, it can be hard to figure out how to adjust the sound on the machines, but that may have been simplified with newer versions. Personally, I'd say go for it. It's a wonderful package, and in terms of content, it has yet to disappoint.

We've had two of the bilingual stations in our library for about a year and a half.  They are wildly popular here, both with our English and our Spanish speakers. The only issue we've had with them revolves around the headphones.  Finding sturdy ones that hold up to the abuse our kids dish out has been a challenge.  Demco has some adorable animal-style children's headphones that are really relatively inexpensive.  However, the kids were breaking them on average every couple of months.  So we invested in sturdier child-sized headphones from Lakeshore.  Two problems - the cords are pretty short, requiring the kids to pull on them more often.  Also, the connection jack is too big for the AWE's - so we've had to buy Radio Shack adapter/splitters.  This was a problem because the only ones available had a connection jack just slightly too small for the AWE.  Hence, one of our munchkins succeeded in breaking a connector off inside one of the computer towers. That said - AWE has been AWESOME in working with us to resolve any issue.  They've even express shipped a computer box for us to pack up the damaged tower and send it to them for repair.  Had it back in great shape within a week. It's a great company to work with, and our kids absolutely love the applications.  Good luck with your decision.

We have one here at my library and the kids love it.  I love the fact that the keyboard and mouse are kid sized and color coded.  Every once in awhile I have to restart the computer but other than that I haven't had a problem with it.  It's pre-loaded with lots of different educational games.  My only suggestion is if you are going to use headphones instead of the speakers that are on the monitor get a jack that you can plug two pairs of headphones into the computer.  That way if you have siblings they can both hear what's going on.  Or if you have a parent that is helping out a child they can hear what the game is telling them to do and explain it to the child.

My library currently has 2 AWE stations. We've had them for about 2 years. They are popular and very easy to use. We do not hook up the printers. I recommend them.

We recently added an AWE station at my branch.  It's been fantastic - the little kids love to have a computer to play on that has age appropriate games (maybe that's what the caregivers are happy about).  We had to have it repaired and the AWE company sent us a loaner while ours was being repaired.  I definitely say go for it!

We have two of the AWE Early Literacy Stations. They are very popular with the young children (ages 2-7). The children especially like the Dora, SpongeBob and Dr. Seuss programs. Last month (December 2010), the stations were used a total of 98 times with an average use time of 26 minutes. My only complaint about these computers is that it is sometimes difficult to exit a program. Holding down CTRL + F4 will exit a program but most of the children and parents do not know this. "Help, I can't get out of this program!" is the most common question I get regarding the computers.
Overall, I would recommend this system.



Becky Morse
Associate Librarian
Cleburne Public Library
302 W. Henderson St.
Cleburne, Texas 76033
(817) 645-0934


"I did what I always do when I am in a strange place, in dreadful circumstances,
without an idea in the world of what to do next. I went to the library."
- Mary Kittredge

"Fate had decreed that all lazy boys who come to hate books and schools and teachers
and spend all their days with toys and games must sooner or later turn into donkeys."
- The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi