DeKalb County Public Library Teams Up with City Schools of Decatur to Expand Access to Ebooks and Digital Audiobooks for Students

 

DECATUR, GA. – June 21, 2022 – As educators seek more creative ways to support students’ learning, a key resource for schools is the local public library. Now, as part of a national trend,DeKalb County Public Library and City Schools of Decatur have formed a partnership to increase students’ access to digital reading materials from the library. Public Library CONNECT enables the students to access both the library’s and school’s ebooks and audiobooks through the school’s Sora reading app.

 

The partnership provides access to thousands of age-appropriate titles for students’ use inside the classroom, at home and anywhere 24/7. Through Sora, City Schools of Decatur students can now borrow from both the school’s collection of classroom and recreational reading titles as well as from DeKalb County Public Library’s digital collection. Sora will automatically filter content to only include age-appropriate titles depending on each student’s grade level.

“We really appreciate that Sora makes it easier for DeKalb County and City of Decatur students to access the thousands of ebooks and audiobooks for kids and teens in our library, whether for summer reading assignments or just for fun,” said Lesley Barber, Collection Management Coordinator at DeKalb County Public Library. “We want everyone to Read More!”

With Public Library CONNECT, students use their school credentials through Sora – rather than a separate library card – to easily log into the library’s digital collection. Sora also supports teachers by offering classroom-specific tools like personal assignments, reading analytics and exportable notes that individualize learning.

 

Ifeude Ukadike Hill, School Librarian Media Specialist at City Schools of Decatur, added, “CSD Media Centers are excited to announce that all CSD students, faculty, and staff now have access to a collection of over 30,000 public library ebooks and audiobooks through the Sora app. Now anyone with a CSD email account has 24/7 access not only to CSD’s online ebook and audiobook collection but also to the DeKalb County Public Libraries’ ebook and audiobook collection.”

 

The Sora app was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions and AASL’s 2021 Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning, and is available for City Schools of Decatur students to download through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, and on Chromebooks that support the Google Play Store. It is also available for use in web browsers at https://soraapp.com on any computer.

 

The entire DeKalb County community can also borrow and read DeKalb County Public Library’s complete ebook, audiobook and digital magazine collection with a valid library card through the award-winning Libby app. The library’s locally selected collection offers digital books and magazines including bestsellers and new releases. Readers of all ages can select from virtually every subject ranging from mystery, romance, children’s, business and more. Libby can be used on any major device or computer, including Apple (R), Android™, Chromebook™ and Kindle(R) (U.S. only).

 

The Libby and Sora apps were built by OverDrive and OverDrive Education respectively. To learn more, visit www.overdrive.com/apps/libby/ and https://discoversora.com

 

 

About DeKalb County Public Library

DeKalb Coun­ty Pub­lic Library is a place to grow. The library plays a pri­ma­ry role in cul­ti­vat­ing a lit­er­ate and eco­nom­i­cal­ly strong DeKalb Coun­ty, enhanc­ing the qual­i­ty of life for every­one in the community. DCPL’s 23 library locations serve 757,000 county residents, including 174,000 residents under the age of 18. 

 

About City Schools of Decatur

City Schools of Decatur is an independent public school district that serves all of the children and youth within the four square mile area of Decatur, Georgia. An urban town of approximately 20,000 residents, the City of Decatur is a historic city of homes, schools, and places of worship with a thriving business community located east of downtown Atlanta. Decatur offers a traditional small-town atmosphere–and the sophistication and excitement of a college town–along with all the benefits of living in a major metropolitan area.

https://www.csdecatur.net/domain/494

 

About OverDrive and OverDrive Education

OverDrive strives to create “a world enlightened by reading.” Serving a growing network of 76,000 libraries and schools in 94 countries, OverDrive – and its K-12 division, OverDrive Education – delivers the industry’s largest digital catalog of ebooks, audiobooks, digital magazines and other content through award-winning apps. The Libby reading app for libraries is one of Popular Mechanics’ 20 Best Apps of the Decade, while the student reading app Sora is one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2019. OverDrive recently acquired Kanopy, the leading streaming video service for public libraries and academic institutions. Acquired in 2021, TeachingBooks.net offers one of the largest catalogs of supplemental materials that enhance literacy outcomes. Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, Ohio USA and was named a Certified B Corp in 2017. www.overdrive.com

 

Contact:
Lesley Barber

DeKalb County Public Library

404-508-7190 x2272

BarberL@dekalblibrary.org

 

Ifeude Ukadike Hill

City Schools of Decatur – CSD District Lead (School Librarian) Media Specialist

ihill@csdecatur.net

 

Courtney Burnett

City Schools of Decatur – Office of the Superintendent

404-371-3601 x 1033

cburnett@csdecatur.net