OverDrive hosted its first global reading programme for schools, Chill Out and Read, from 6 June-15 August. Modeled after the successful annual summer reading programme for the U.S. and Canada, Chill Out and Read offered participating schools up to 26 free and simultaneous use juvenile and young adult titles. Paired with marketing materials available on the Global Schools page of the OverDrive Resource Center, our schools participated with enthusiasm – and impressive results!

“We have seen tremendous participation from our global partner schools, especially considering that this is the inaugural year for the programme”, OverDrive Outreach Specialist Christina Samek said. “We hoped for a great year, but we were blown away by the results.”

The top-three titles by checkouts for Chill Out and Read were:

  • The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
  • The Terrible Two by Mac Barnett
  • The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer

All three were audiobooks, proving this format is gaining traction with young readers!

The success of the inaugural Chill Out and Read is due in large part to Sora, our new student reading app. And, of course, to you, for sharing this programme with your students.

If you missed this deadline for sign up this year, we expect an equally wonderful list of titles for the 2020 programme! Please reach out to your OverDrive Account Manager with any questions.