The Sora Spotlight series profiles educators who’ve become Sora champions at their school, impressing us with their creative strategies to get more students reading digitally. To inspire us all to find new ways to reach learners across our communities, we’ve asked them to share their stories of reading success. 

Today, we’ll talk to Sarah Downs, Director of Library and Information Services at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, MA.

Educator Stats:

Name:

Sarah Downs

Describe your position and your school. 

I am the Director of Library and Information Services at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Massachusetts. CCHS is one of the largest private, Catholic, college-preparatory, day high schools in New England serving a diverse student body of 1,200 hailing from over 60 different communities.  Founded in 1935 by the Marist Brothers, each year approximately 94% of our students attend four-year colleges and universities.

As the Library Director I maintain the 5,000-book collection along with my Library Assistant. We provide access to more than 50 online databases and periodicals to students and staff. The library is a vibrant place and a popular location for quiet study both before and after school. We’re open from 7:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Students are also able to visit the library throughout the day during their study halls as well as with teachers for direct instruction from library staff.

The library has been a go-to place to support developing information literacy skills for students in grades 9-12 across all curriculum areas. We’ve partnered with the teaching staff to provide lessons on research skills and provided training on (our) online research platform to students and staff. This year we are focusing our instruction on the appropriate use of generative artificial intelligence in teaching and learning.

I come to the library world as a second career. I graduated from Boston University with a degree in Journalism and worked for 10 years at various newspapers. While I loved being a newspaper editor, I also loved reading and working with children. I then went on to get a Masters Degree in Library & Information Science and a Graduate Certificate in Media Literacy, both from the University of Rhode Island. This is now my 13th year teaching and my third in a high school library. I’ve also worked in both elementary and middle school libraries.

How many years have you been active with OverDrive?

One at CCHS (we launched summer 2023); but introduced to the tool and launched in 2020 at my former school.

What are you currently reading?

Reading to my son: The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

Reading on Sora: Where Sleeping Girls Lie by by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Reading the physical book: Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune

Sarah’s Sora story

Why do you love Sora?

I love Sora because it is such an easy and instant way to get a book into the hands of a reader. I’ve spent 12 days, 19 hours and 41 minutes reading on Sora since we launched just over a year ago. I love that it allows my students to check out books meant for any reading level – whether it’s a graphic novel series geared toward younger readers or the latest adult bestseller.

The anonymity of being able to choose what you like to read gives students that voice and choice they are craving, especially since all their curriculum books are chosen by their teachers. It also provides an ease of access, allowing them to instantly click into a book that they may have had reading for homework but forgot it in their locker, or prefer listening to the audiobook, or are looking for the latest book in a series.

What unique things have you done to help increase student engagement with Sora? 

When we launched Sora last school year, I did a bunch of marketing using our Instagram, as well as promoting it using the digital signage in the school. I handed out stickers and flyers and with directions during our Activities Expo that students could grab. During all the freshmen library orientation lessons I introduced the tool as showed students how to login as well as add their public libraries.

We are part of the Commonwealth eBook Collection on Sora, a service provided by the Massachusetts Library System, so have access to way more books than I could ever order on my own.

  • We’ve done public library card drives and brought in a handful of librarians from the local communities to get students signed up for a library card so they could access even more books on Sora.
  • I often will post on Instagram as well as on our library digital signage a “Mrs. Downs Recommends” graphic of what I’m reading from the library and what I’m reading on Sora.
  • Our interactive Suggested Summer Reading list and website had direct hyperlinks to access each of our recommended reads via the Sora.
  • During our St. Patrick’s Day Book Bingo promotion, we added a square to read or listen to a book on Sora prompting more students to use the tool to be able to win a prize.
  • In my previous school district, we launched Sora during the pandemic so when I did book talks with students it was over Google Meet. I used a slideshow with the book cover image, a summary, and direct links to borrow it on Sora. It was a great way to get books into the hands of students who weren’t in the building.

In what ways has this been successful?

The data proves that students love Sora. We had nearly 2,000 book checkouts in our launch year. The number of Sora checkouts was nearly double our physical book checkouts in the library. In the two full school years I’ve been at Central, the total book circulation has increased over 400 percent. Each year I create a Year in Review Infographic and share out our top 10 readers for both students and staff and award them a certificate and bag of fun book-themed prizes. This year I did the same for Sora. We had four students who read more than 75 books on Sora last year!

Is there anything you are planning to do to kick off the school year to roll out and introduce Sora to your students or staff?  

During the summer our incoming freshmen come into school for technology trainings. This year that included getting everyone rostered into Sora so now every student before the school year even started had access and knew about the tool. I will once again review it and promote it during our Freshmen Orientation lessons.

In what ways have you utilized social media to reach your students?  What is the impact of this? 

We are very active on our library Instagram page (@ccraider_library) promoting new books, changes to the library, our programming, posting pictures when classes come in, liking posts by authors and other accounts like Sora. It’s a great way to reach students who may not be able to come into the library on a regular basis.

Do you have any exciting ideas you want to try or anything upcoming that you’re looking forward to with Sora? 

I’d love to promote audiobooks more since it’s a way many students and staff enjoy reading. I’m hoping to add signage to popular titles making it clear we also have the book available as an audiobook on Sora.

We’ve also severely reduced the number of magazines we have in the library and have begun promoting the amazing array of titles available on Sora instead.

This year I’m hoping to use Sora to provide copies of our CCHS Book Club book to students, so they don’t have to buy them.

Finally, I’d like to use our March Book Madness voting we do each year to promote accessing the titles not only in the library but also on Sora.

Have you worked with anyone in your building to use Sora for curriculum? 

Any teachers who’ve reached out for a student who is asking for the audiobook version of a required text we’ve created an assignment for them and directly assigned them the audiobook.

Is there anything else you want readers to know about your implementation of Sora or your library/classroom?

As a member of the Massachusetts Teen Choice Book Award Committee we have used Sora to get the 21 book nominees into students’ hands by creating a Collection in Sora. Students can read or listen to the nominees and then vote for their favorite teen book of the year. (Editorial note: This year’s winner was “Blue Lock, Volume 1″ by Muneyuki Kaneshiro.)

Get to know Sarah

In your opinion, why is reading digitally important, especially to student readers?

We read constantly online whether it’s our social media feed or a quick news blurb or a journal article for a class assignment. Learning how to read digitally, which is a completely different skill than reading a physical book, is an essential skill for students today. The ease of access and the instant results make reading digitally incredibly appealing to student readers.

What is your favorite book of all time, and why?

My favorite book I read as a teen would be Testament of Youth, an autobiography of British nurse and activist Vera Brittain. It was recommended to me by my freshman high school English teacher and is such a story of resilience. Brittain provided me a great role model of a strong woman who could accomplish so much.

What is your favorite “reading” moment with a student?

It’s been different teaching at each level (elementary, middle and high school), but with high schoolers it’s really about convincing them that they can find joy in reading again. Often, they say, “I don’t like to read.” I have classes come in to choose independent reading books and there was one student last year who was convinced he wouldn’t find a single book he would enjoy. I grabbed him Promise Boys by Nick Brooks and he loved it so much he even recommended it to friends.

What is the most important thing you hope your students take away from reading?

That books can provide you a window to a new world. They can help you walk in another’s shoes. That by opening our mind to different stories and experiences we can become better people. That if you’re struggling with identity or mental health issues or anything that makes growing up so challenging and can find yourself in literature it can help you not feel so alone.

What advice do you have for new educators/librarians with a digital collection?

Be open to trying new things! I’m constantly trying to switch things up and promote books and reading in new ways. Get inspired by other librarians, network, see what others are doing and then make it your own.

Become our next Sora Spotlight!

It’s easy to get featured – simply contact us and briefly explain how you’re making an impact with Sora in your school.

About the Author

Kristen Hein is an Account Manager working with schools to integrate digital into their libraries and classrooms. She herself has experience as a history teacher working with students grades 8-12 focusing on U.S. history and government. She generally spends most of her free time chasing around her hyper-active pup Romeo, hiking, practicing yoga and trying out the best Cleveland restaurants.

Check out how other educators are using Sora as a tool for student literacy: