One of the key advantages of digital books that we’ve heard about from our partners before is that it’s much simpler to deliver books to students in languages other than English.

If you have a large population of English language learners (ELLs) but you’re not conversant in the languages in which they have reading fluency, the logistics of adding native language print books can be complicated. You have to source age-appropriate titles. Catalog them correctly. And, if you’re buying at the district level, you need to prioritize which schools will benefit from them the most and then distribute them.

Digital reading platforms like Sora make this much easier, streamlining the process by cutting out some of the steps essential to adding print books. And students can read them wherever they are, so you don’t have to worry about determining who needs what, and when. It’s already right in your digital collection!

Plus, did you know that the Sora interface is available in 12 languages other than English (LOTE)? This functionality can be helpful for both ELL students and kids participating in dual-language immersion programs.

But keep in mind – the interface language doesn’t impact the language of the digital books in your collection, so when you’re planning reading programs for these learners, you’ll need to ensure that you have enough high-interest content to keep them motivated.

Click around & find out: Discover books in 9 languages other than English (and more)

Luckily, the OverDrive Resource Center is a great place to start you off. The Resource Center has tons of premade LOTE lists (even beyond what’s covered here), and once you log in to OverDrive Marketplace, you’ll see that you can search for books in over 100 languages!

So if you’re not sure you’re seeing what you need as you’re exploring, be sure to reach out to your account team (or schools@overdrive.com) – they’re always there to help.

Browse below for recommended lists in some of our most-requested languages.

Chinese (Simplified)

Don’t forget about discounts!

If you’re looking for discounted Chinese language books, don’t forget to explore the next stop on our World Literary Tour: Xi’an, China! You can get up to 50% off juvenile fiction and nonfiction ebooks and audiobooks through Nov. 10, including bestselling translated titles like Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

It ends soon, so don’t delay!

French

German

Japanese

Korean

Portuguese

Russian

Spanish books for every grade level

Bonus: Free Spanish ebooks you can read right away

Did you know that your Sora collection comes with a collection of always-available Spanish titles that are perfect for your younger readers? The Spanish Titles for Young Readers collection includes 50+ ebooks that can be read simultaneously by an unlimited number of students. The best part? You can get it for free right away by activating Sora.

Find more recommended world language books

For books in languages besides what’s been covered here, check out other recommended LOTE lists on the Resource Center.

Learn how to use OverDrive Marketplace to shop language books

Interested in browsing digital world language books, but not quite sure how to get into OverDrive Marketplace and start shopping like a pro? Check out our self-paced training modules – they’ll teach you everything you need to know, in your own time (because we know you don’t always have a lot of it).

Get self-paced Marketplace training