10th Annual Summer Reading Program Provides 59,000 Schools with Popular Digital Books

CLEVELAND (May 15, 2023) – The annual Sora Sweet Reads summer reading program is back and bigger than ever, taking place May 15–August 28 and available 24/7 in the award-winning Sora student reading app. In its tenth year, this free program is designed to help educators and students beat the “summer slide” with 57 specially-selected juvenile and young adult ebooks and audiobooks plus as many as hundreds of other popular and educational titles already in each school’s collection. Nearly 59,000 schools from around the globe are participating in 2023.

To check whether your school is offering Sora Sweet Reads, visit https://www.soraapp.com/welcome. Schools that are not currently using Sora can sign up here to offer their students no-cost access to a book bundle including Sora Sweet Reads titles (offer ends June 14).

Sora Sweet Reads addresses common challenges related to the summer slide. Rebecca T. Calderon, Coordinator of Libraries at Ysleta ISD in Texas, said, “As we prepare for our summer break, our educator librarians are eager to promote summer reading programs to help stave off the dreaded summer slide. Sweet Reads has been a part of our student’s summer reading experience every year since we began using Sora. They are a great way to keep our students reading and learning throughout the summer. Promoting audiobooks as family reads on long road trips is a great way to pass the time and bond over a good book.”

Since its creation in 2014 by OverDrive Education, Sora Sweet Reads has proven a highly successful program encouraging students to read. During the 2022 program, more than 1.3 million students participated from 50,000 schools worldwide. Over the past three years, more than 20 million ebooks and audiobooks were checked out, increasing an average of 42 percent each year.

Titles specifically selected for the Sora Sweet Reads program have also increased in popularity, averaging 300 percent growth in checkouts each year. Publishers offer these titles free to schools for the summer.

This year, students from all 50 U.S. states and nine Canadian provinces can enjoy the 57 popular juvenile and young adult ebooks (including select well-known audiobook and Read-Along options) specifically selected for the Sora Sweet Reads program while schools in other countries have up to 45 of these titles available. These ebooks and audiobooks are provided by 21 publishers and divided into elementary, middle and high school sections. Ebook titles include Minecraft, Race to Crashpoint Tower and Heiress Apparently. Audiobook titles include Be A Maker, Wild Style and Blood Circus. The full list is available here.

Students of schools that use Sora can download the app for free from any app store or use in any web browser at https://www.soraapp.com/welcome. With a valid student ID, students can then borrow the digital books in the program with unlimited access, or any others also in the school’s collection, and read on all major eReading devices, computers, tablets and smartphones.

Find more information about the Sora Sweet Reads program.

Educators can learn more about how Sora ensures every student has access to the right books at https://www.discoversora.com.

About OverDrive Education and the Sora student reading app

The Sora student reading app, created by OverDrive Education, provides access to the right books for every student. Available in more than 59,000 K–12 schools worldwide, Sora provides the industry’s largest catalog of ebooks, audiobooks, digital magazines and other content to support the need for required curriculum titles, class sets and pleasure reading. Sora was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions. TeachingBooks.net (acquired in 2021) complements Sora with one of the largest catalogs of supplemental resources that “bring books to life.” OverDrive—which also provides digital content to public, academic and corporate libraries—is based in Cleveland, Ohio USA. https://www.overdrive.com/schools

Contact:
David Burleigh
Director of Brand Marketing & Communications
dburleigh@overdrive.com

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