Comprehensive report highlights digital reading engagement during the 2024–2025 school year

Cleveland, Ohio – May 4, 2026 – Sora, the student reading platform from OverDrive, today released its third annual State of K–12 Digital Reading report, offering a detailed look at how millions of students worldwide are engaging with ebooks, audiobooks, comics, and magazines during the 2024–2025 school year.

Drawing on anonymized data from more than 4 million student users, the report provides educators and school leaders with insights into reading engagement, format preferences, time spent reading, and the role digital platforms play in supporting literacy development across grade levels. The report features a foreword by Dr. Molly Ness, literacy researcher and founder and CEO of Dirigo Literacy, who situates Sora’s findings within broader national conversations about literacy, reading motivation, and the role of technology in schools.

Key findings from the report include:

• More than 349 million reading sessions logged in Sora during the 2024–2025 school year
• Nearly 60 million total digital checkouts worldwide, with ebooks accounting for 85%, audiobooks 11%, and magazines 4%
• An average of 2.5 million hours of reading per month, reflecting steady student engagement throughout the school year

Amid growing scrutiny of screen time in classrooms, the report underscores an important distinction: not all digital experiences are the same. When used intentionally, reading-focused tools can support literacy development by expanding access to books, meeting students where they are, and encouraging meaningful engagement with text. The report highlights how millions of students read across genres, age levels, and formats, often alternating between ebooks and audiobooks depending on their needs and preferences.

“Sustained reading habits are critical to student success and understanding how students actually engage with text is essential for educators,” said Renee Davenport, Vice President of Education for Sora. “This report offers a clear, data-informed picture of how digital reading is supporting instruction, choice, and access at a time when literacy outcomes are under increasing scrutiny.”

In addition to borrowing data, the report examines how students interact with texts while reading. During the 2024–2025 school year, students frequently used Sora’s built-in dictionary to define unfamiliar words, a signal of active reading and vocabulary development. These interactions, along with annotations and reading goals, point to how digital reading platforms can encourage deeper engagement rather than passive consumption.

Compiled annually, The State of K–12 Digital Reading report is designed to help educators, librarians, administrators, and policymakers better understand digital reading trends and make informed decisions about literacy instruction and resource investment.

The full 2025 Sora Annual Report is available at https://www.discoversora.com/2025-state-of-reading-report.

About OverDrive

OverDrive is a mission-based company that supports libraries and schools. Named a Certified B Corp in 2017, OverDrive serves more than 80,000 libraries and schools in 115 countries with the industry’s largest digital catalog of ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, video and other content. Award-winning apps and services include the Libby library reading app, the Sora student reading app, the Kanopy video streaming app, and TeachingBooks. Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, Ohio USA. www.overdrive.com