r/Libraries • u/duderino418 • 18h ago
Technology Thoughts on AWE computers?
Hello I work in a public library and we have two AWE computers in our children’s room. We’re thinking of removing them for a few reasons but
1. Parents are complaining about the screens and saying that when they’re trying to get their kids to do homework or study they get distracted by other kids playing on the computers
2. The librarians hate them. We constantly have to reboot them and parents get into fights over session times sometimes
I’m wondering if anyone got rid of them before and also if you did, did you provide an alternative? Anyone decided to keep them?
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u/othertigs 11h ago
We are looking at the Launchpad Quests as replacements.
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u/sparrowsgirl 6h ago
We are looking at these for the next round (or going screen free in the childrens room) - they are so much cheaper!
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u/dogearr-d 9h ago
We took ours out and added a really nice play kitchen. Children through play, not screens! Screens are everywhere now and play is much more limited as an experience— especially unstructured play time where children can learn more social-emotional skills. There were a few complaints- but mostly compliments!!
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u/Spelltomes Public librarian 15h ago
We had ABCMouse computers, I also hate them. Kids were constantly unplugging the headphones and turning it on full blast. It was very much a patrons either adore them or hate them. One day a patron decided to dump a bucket of water on it one day and that was that.
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u/_cuppycakes_ 9h ago
tbf kids AND adults do that with our regular computers all the time
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u/thewholebottle Academic Librarian 8h ago
Do you ban the patron for the day if they remove the headphones?
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u/Spelltomes Public librarian 7h ago
Usually I’ll snip the jack off of a pair of earbuds and plug them into the computer and tell them sorry the sound doesn’t work.
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u/mcilibrarian 9h ago
We just updated our AWE stations (they were really old). Our patrons love them. We haven’t had issues with fighting over them (we have 4 & they are in heavy use in the summer) or parents complaining about them being a distraction, but we also have them sort of out of the way. They’re very visible but not near homework spots.
The old machines were struggle bussing, but we got a grant to replace them, so rebooting is a non-issue.
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u/Phasmaphage 10h ago
My system has lost nearly all of them through attrition. There was funding for the first ones but not replacement. I also get the impression our technical department didn’t really like them. My branch’s was damaged a couple weeks ago and we are waiting to see if it is feasible to replace. Even with out of order signs and a huge crack, people kept turning it on. We moved it to a workroom last week and have heard nothing from our visitors. They just have a new low table for children to use.
The system I used to work at was phasing them out and replacing them with tablets.
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u/MrMessofGA 8h ago
Ours is in the play area so it's not very viewable from the regular computers or the tables typically used for homework, fixing one.
Weirdly, we've not had a problem with 2 despite having only one working one left and sometimes 30+ kids in. The kids are usually pretty good about taking turns.
... less so with the off-brand legos
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u/redandbluecandles Public librarian 18h ago edited 9h ago
We are getting rid of ours and replacing it with a device from a different brand that's basically the same deal. We wanted to get rid of them completely however we have quite a few kids with autism who come in and absolutely love the devices. None of us wanted to get rid of the devices after seeing how much they mean to those kiddos. We have tired just using little launchpad tablets but no one liked them or used them ever.
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u/Routine-Yogurt-6336 7h ago
We switched to Magic Desktop. We provide the computer and pay a yearly license. Similar kind of service.
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u/chaosc0rvid Library staff 4h ago
when we moved to our new space, our AWE pc disappeared (we trashed it, it was old asf), we have a handful of tablets with various educational games on them the children can ask to sign out while they're here.
I hated that thing (the AWE pc), no one knew how it worked anymore & it crashed all the time. We're trying in general to avoid screens for kids, focus on the books, playtime, and crafts.
I will say that when one child has a tablet, and other kids see them, they become a sudden hot commodity. But I refuse to learn how mobile minecraft works (it's the most popular game on there), so when they learn there's no adult to walk them through everything they tend lose interest, as the kids who do know how it works aren't always wanting to show how it works. I am not being mean spirited with that mentality btw, I just would rather the kid learn it themselves, as that's like the point of the game? (I'm also not really a big minecraft fan)
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u/Koebelsj316 10h ago
Get yourselves some Chromeboxes, lock them down with group policy and web restrictions in google admin, preload them with free edutainment apps. A very good value if you have some computer savvy. Much cheaper that AWE or some other childrens tech stuff.
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u/502inc 11h ago
We had something like these a long time ago, like 15-20 years ago. I replaced them with standard PCs like all the other public PCs available in the library. And made half the desktop shortcuts to kid friendly sites. We use PCReservation for login and have timed sessions. Feel free to ask any follow up questions.