[EricH]

Originally Posted by TheBlenderMan

As I already said, the library wanted to get kids genuinely interested in reading rather then lure them in with money.

Who says that that wasn't the goal I had in mind? Because if you say that, then I have only one thing further to say: I don't take kindly to people putting words in my mouth.

I'm going to put this very simply so we aren't talking past each other.

--Library's goal: get more kids (especially boys) genuinely interested in reading.
--Library's strategy: Get them INTO the library with some "cool" thing that the kids will be interested in. While they're there, encourage them to READ more.
--Result: ????? (Well, OK, so far there's been one big controversy... but after that's resolved, the question remains.)

The robotics class was the "cool" thing that TPL opted to use. I opted to suggest a financial incentive. Other people can come up with other things, I'm sure.