By: Christina Samek, Marketing Specialist.

Well, the kids are back! It’s September again and the back-to-school season is in full swing. I am sure I don’t need to tell you that. You are probably attempting to familiarize yourself with new supplies, new initiatives, and eager new faces. With so much newness, you might be wondering if now is the time to launch an OverDrive platform at your school or district. Or perhaps, you are entertaining the idea of expanding your existing service to more schools and wondering if now is the right time. So, why OverDrive? Why now?

Affordable Content Solutions

OverDrive also a great content selection for any budget and kind of school. OverDrive Marketplace hosts millions of titles from major publishers to support sustained silent reading initiatives and your curriculum. To keep your costs low, OverDrive offers different content solutions so you can evaluate what works best for your budget. You might be interested in our Shared Collection option, which enables two or more schools or districts to access digital content via a joint OverDrive platform. All purchased titles are available to all participating schools or districts through this central access point. It gives you an opportunity to ensure your students are seeing new content year after year, as more schools and districts add to the collection.

Another option is our Class Set model which allows your whole class to read the same digital title at the same time, with one dedicated copy available for each user during a lending period that you specify. This per-user lending model is offered by select publishers and is less expensive than its traditional lending model counterpart. When you purchase a class set, you purchase the title for a set of specific users for a predetermined length of time. The title will be automatically checked out to each user on the start date that you choose. To purchase a class set, you’ll need to know your desired start date, lending period, and the user IDs of users who should receive the title.

You could also explore the Simultaneous Use model. It allows you to circulate your choice of titles from select publishers to an unlimited number of simultaneous users for a set period of time. OverDrive has options for every age level, with plans from Encyclopedia Britannica, Sleeping Bear Press, Dawn Publications to name a few.

Student Driven Innovation

OverDrive Education is constantly looking for ways to make the platform better than ever. We know the secret to success is in how the students adapt and respond to new technology. We introduced Sora, the new school app, at this year’s Digipalooza (OverDrive’s bi-annual user group conference). Participants (and team OverDrive) were very excited to get a sneak peek of all Sora has to offer. Some highlights: Sora includes tips and secrets for the best and most efficient user reading experience, looks the same across all devices, allows for students to search for their school by map or text code, AND students can access their public library right from the app. It’s awesome! Sora is currently in the development stage with a pilot period planned. A wider release is planned for 2018.

Start with Reading

We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again. Start with eBooks. Start with reading. Start now. OverDrive eBooks are an excellent, approachable gateway into a lifelong relationship with technology. The digital world is now the world we live in. OverDrive allows you to meet kids in their space with a low tech solution that won’t overwhelm your faculty. OverDrive eBooks come equipped with key features such as an exportable note-taking and highlighting tool, a built-in dictionary, and a dyslexic font (we are the only eBook solution that offers this ground-breaking feature in the US!). With the OverDrive platform, you can serve your high achievers and your struggling readers on the same, easy-to-use interface. OverDrive connects to your existing systems to ensure your students access the eBooks using the same credentials they use every day.

It’s affordable, innovative and easy-to-use. Why now? Why not. Ask us how you can get started today!