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Delaware school students now have digital access to books

All Delaware students now have digital access to books.

Delaware libraries are teaming up with the State Department of Education (DOE) to make eBooks accessible to all First State students.

K-thru-12 students can now get eBooks year round thanks to this first-time collaboration between state libraries and DOE.  

“This is working through the vendor called OverDrive," said state librarian Annie Norman. "And so they have a service for schools - they use an app called Sora - and DOE has just purchased a large collection of eBooks through that app.”

Norman says Delaware’s public libraries have used OverDrive since 2011- with their Libby app giving anyone with a library card free access to eBooks, audiobooks and music.

The Sora app gives the state’s 144,000 students year-round access to all the libraries’ juvenile reading materials and school books - allowing them to do required class reading and read for fun.

 

The app also automatically filters content to include only age-appropriate titles based on a student's grade level.

 

Students can use their school sign-on credentials to log on to the app. 

The effort is part of the state’s effort to help schools address student learning loss during the pandemic.

 

The Dept. of Education used federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to pay for the Sora app as part of its effort to address learning loss during the pandemic.

 

Kelli Steele has over 30 years of experience covering news in Delaware, Baltimore, Winchester, Virginia, Phoenix, Arizona and San Diego, California.