CLEVELAND – July 30, 2019 – The American Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division of the American Library Association, has awarded OverDrive Education with          the 2019 AASL President’s Crystal Apple. The Crystal Apple is presented to an individual or group who has made a significant impact on school libraries and learners. In prior years, honorees have included First Lady Laura Bush, James Patterson and Dolly Parton and the Imagination Library.

In addition, the AASL named Sora, OverDrive Education’s student reading app, a “2019 Best App for Teaching & Learning.” The 2019 Best Apps for Teaching & Learning were selected for their exceptional value to inquiry-based teaching and learning as well as those that foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, and active participation. Sora was recognized for its support of reading collaboration and user-friendly features to encourage learners to explore and discover ebooks and audiobooks.

In recognition of OverDrive Education’s Crystal Apple distinction, AASL President Kathryn Roots Lewis stated, “OverDrive Education’s deep and sustained commitment to the paramount importance of school librarians and school administrators to the learning communities they serve is commendable.”

OverDrive founder and CEO Steve Potash accepted the award at the recent Annual Meeting of the American Library Association in Washington DC. “We’re proud to provide reading tools, resources, and support for our nation’s school librarians and educators.  Students need access to school librarians for every stage of their education. It’s a proven way to impact student success in the classroom as well as to inspire a lifelong interest in books and reading.“

Sora is the school companion to OverDrive and its public library app Libby. With Sora, students and teachers can access ebooks and audiobooks through a digital platform customized for schools. Sora provides instant access to a school and/or school library collection and also, given the school district permissions, the local public library collection. Data recently collected by OverDrive Education shows that ebook and audiobook reading increased over 240% when students connected Sora to their local public library versus solely accessing their school collection.

Educators can assign ebooks and audiobooks to students, and students are able to self-select reading and listening materials as well. Badges can also be earned by readers for various achievements.

The Sora app is available for participating schools’ students, faculty and staff 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. For more information about Sora, visit http://meet.soraapp.com.

OverDrive Education is a division of Rakuten OverDrive, the leading digital reading platform for libraries and schools worldwide. To learn more about OverDrive Education, visit https://company.overdrive.com/education/.

 

 

About American Association of School Librarians

The American Association of School Librarians, www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), empowers leaders to transform teaching and learning. Join OverDrive at the 2019 AASL National Conference, November 14-16 in Louisville, KY.

About OverDrive Education – a division of Rakuten 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 43,000 libraries and schools worldwide, OverDrive combines technology with content to support learning and reading in the classroom, library and home on all major devices, including iOS®, Android™, Chromebook™, and Kindle® (US only). OverDrive Education released Sora, the student reading app, in September 2018. Founded in 1986, OverDrive and OverDrive Education are based in Cleveland, Ohio USA, and owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten. company.overdrive.com/education/


Contact:
David Burleigh
Director of Brand Marketing & Communications
dburleigh@overdrive.com

 

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