This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English EducationReport.

Looking for a good children's book? Internet users can findhundreds of them. These books are from around the world. And theyare free of charge. The project is called the InternationalChildren's Digital Library.

The goal is to offer electronic versions of more thanten-thousand children's books in at least one-hundred languages. Wewill give the address of the Web site at the end of this report. Soget ready to write it down.

Project developers have been working with children to design easyways to search the collection and read the books. An image of eachpage appears on the computer. Users can also print copies on paper.

Officials say the project has been designed for two main groupsof users. The first is children between the ages of three andthirteen, along with their teachers and parents. The second group isresearchers in the area of children's literature.

The books chosen for the collection are meant to help childrenunderstand the world in which they live. Literature is one way toteach young people about new ideas. The idea behind the collectionis that an interesting story not only helps children understand whothey are. It may also influence their desire to explore the world.

Project organizers say they have chosen books that show thesimilarities and differences in ways of life around the world. Theaim is to create a greater understanding of other people's culturesand beliefs. The International Children's Digital Library is also anattempt to use technology to strengthen libraries around the world.

The digital library is a projectof the University of Maryland and the Internet Archive. The InternetArchive is building an electronic library of Internet sites andother digital collections as a cultural record.

The children's library project is supported by the NationalScience Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.The Library of Congress and other organizations are also involved.The first materials appeared in two-thousand-two.

The goal is to have all ten-thousand books online intwo-thousand-seven. So far, the collection contains more than fivehundred books.

Here is the address of the International Children's DigitalLibrary: www.icdlbooks.org. Again, www.icdlbooks.org.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by NancySteinbach. This is Steve Ember.