PHOENIX—NOV. 9, 2017—eBooks and audiobooks support literacy goals and encourage reading in more than 18,000 schools and districts across the U.S. With the OverDrive Education reading platform, school librarians are leveraging the power of digital to bring eBooks and audiobooks to more than 7 million students. They will share their successes and best practices at the American Association of School Librarians National Conference at the Phoenix Convention Center, Nov. 9-11.

In 2017, students in 2,500 new schools gained access to digital reading on an OverDrive platform, which offers eBooks and audiobooks in every subject from languages to leisure reading. To maximize budget and resources, 1,200 of those schools joined a Shared eBook & Audiobook Collection, a model that enables two or more schools to access digital content via a joint platform, with all purchased titles available to all members through this central access point. Sharing means schools can access more digital titles than any one institution could purchase on their own. Thirty new Shared Collections were formed in 2017, ranging from 26 schools in the Connect Shared Digital Collection in Ohio to statewide groups in Nebraska and Montana.

“Since launching Shared Collections earlier this year, we’ve received great feedback from school libraries on their positive impact on reading rates and engagement. We’re excited to be partnering on more and more of them to help grow students’ access to eBooks and audiobooks,” OverDrive Education Director Herb Miller, Ed. M., said.

The work of school librarians provides students with a flexible digital reading platform that supports differentiated instruction, ELL, Hi-Lo literacy instruction and blended learning. Visit OverDrive Education at AASL booth 209 to learn how and why they do it.

Nov. 9, 6:30 pm – How to maximize usage & effectively budget for your digital library. Librarian Kate Street of Sunnyside High School in Arizona will share best practices her district has embraced to eclipse 100,000 checkouts from its digital library and discuss the effective budgeting processes the district has implemented to make the most of its eBook and audiobook funding.

Nov. 10, 1:00 pm – Engaging K-8 in digital reading & leveraging title assignments. Library Media Assistant Kathy Gray of Cucamonga Elementary School (CA) and Library Media Assistant Monica Sapp of The Ontario Center School (CA) will team up to explore their proven methods for keeping their K-8 students engaged with the digital library.

Nov. 10, 2:00 pm – Getting the word out about your eBooks & audiobooks. Library Media Specialist Cindy Moyle of Utah’s Granite School District will highlight the creative ways she’s promoted the digital library to successfully increase circulation and offers fresh ideas to excite your school community around reading.

For more information about OverDrive Education, visit overdrive.com/schools.

About OverDrive Education – a division of OverDrive

OverDrive Education is the leading global digital reading platform for K-12, offering the industry’s largest catalog of eBooks, audiobooks and streaming video. As a 100% digital company serving 39,000 libraries and schools worldwide, OverDrive combines technology with content to support learning and reading in the classroom, library and home. With an easy-to-use central platform, students get the right titles at the right time, online or offline, on all major devices, including iOS®, Android™, Chromebook™ and Kindle® (U.S. only). Founded in 1986, OverDrive and OverDrive Education are based in Cleveland, Ohio USA. www.overdrive.com/schools

Contact:

David Burleigh

Director of Brand Communications

dburleigh@overdrive.com