Public Library CONNECT FAQs
Public libraries:
For more more information on Public Library CONNECT, please visit: https://company.overdrive.com/public-libraries/public-library-connect/
K-12 schools:
For more information on Public Library CONNECT, please visit: https://company.overdrive.com/k-12-schools/sora-public-library/
There is no cost to enable Public Library CONNECT.
The public library can see the following information pertaining to student activity via Public Library CONNECT: date and origin (Sora) of checkouts, active and suspended holds, district or school, title metadata (author, ISBN, etc.), and obfuscated student IDs (if IDs are enabled by the public library).
No, K-12 Marketplace users cannot directly see how many books students are accessing through the public library. Since Public Library CONNECT checkouts are on titles in the public library collection, related circulation statistics are only available to the public library.
However, K-12 Marketplace users can find usage statistics on student use of public library collections from Insights > Sora Activity. From Sora Activity, simply select Filter activity> _ _Public library activity > Show only (All branches only) to see total books opened, total time read, number of unique users and top 10 titles (by time read). This information is for all use of the public library collections through Sora, which includes Public Library CONNECT use.
Schools can see the top ten trending titles by checkouts and time read in Marketplace under Insights > Sora Activity. If you’d like a list of titles checked out from the public library, you can request one through your OverDrive Account Manager or set up a meetings with your partner library to share metrics and promotional efforts.
When students sign into the public library through Public Library CONNECT, their checkout limits will default to the public library’s checkout limits. The checkout limit on their school account will stay the same. Schools can set lower checkout and hold limits for their Public Library CONNECT connections. To request a different checkout or hold limit, please reach out to your OverDrive Account Manager.
No, Public Library CONNECT checkouts do NOT count against their school checkout limits. Checkout limits are set separately by the school and the public library. For example, the public library limit could be 50 and the school limit could be three.
No, schools cannot see the public library’s holdings in Marketplace. The school will only see their school collection holdings (and Advantage account holdings, if applicable) in their Marketplace account.
Content access levels and public library maturity levels operate independently. In many cases, schools may opt to have their content access levels (CALs) and public library maturity levels (PLMLs) match. For example, K-5 students may have access to Juvenile content from the school collection AND Juvenile access at the public library. Because these operate independently, however, a school may elect to not use CALs but implement PLMLs, or set different rules for CALs versus PLMLs. This gives schools more and separate control over what students can see from the public library and from the school collection.
Public library audience levels for titles cannot be adjusted. The audience levels for titles from the public library are predetermined by the publisher’s assigned audience rating and cannot be changed.
No, students cannot see mature content from the public library in Sora.
Sora filters out mature/erotic content by BISAC code.
If a school district opts-in to Public Library CONNECT, a specific school or set of schools within the district may be able to opt out. Please reach out to your Account Manager for more information.
The school and library both must agree to the partnership. Once agreements are in place, your OverDrive team then works to enable student sign-in at the public library, so there may be a delay between your initial opt-in and your connection going live.
There may be specific instances where a library cannot enable Public Library CONNECT for a school due to service area limitations, bylaws, or other factors. Please contact your Account Manager for assistance.
Yes, Public Library CONNECT is available outside the U.S. and Canada. Please contact your Account Manager for more information.
