That’s such a cool idea! I don’t have kids but if I someday do I’ll probably steel your idea. I feel like the digital era makes it “to much” for kids, and having a limited, physical library was a better experience overall.

I’m not a big expert so I’m probably just ignorant, but why do you want to remove the IR filters? Also I was planning on using esp32 but inside only, and keep them naked. Does it overheat in this condition?

The most OSS solution out there would probably bee to use an ESP32-CAM with esphome(https://esphome.io/components/esp32_camera.html) and Home Assistant. I think you could even add a motion sensor to that as well. But it would require more work and some electronic knowledge to set up an esp32.