Press Release #32/March 1, 2024
Just in time for March is Reading Month, Dearborn Public School students will again be able to access digital books and audio books online.
The district has brought back the Sora digital book service after working with developers and the Wayne County Consortium of schools to ensure the titles meet Dearborn Public Schools’ selection criteria.
Sora allows Dearborn Public Schools’ students to browse, check-out and read online by signing in through Clever, as they do for other online programs. The Sora app can also be installed and used on phones and tablets. This allows students to use their district ID and password to access digital materials on Sora. In the 21 months the district previously provided Sora, students checked out more than 31,000 digital titles.
“We are excited to again be able to offer this service to conveniently get more books into the hands of students whenever and wherever they want to read,” said Superintendent Glenn Maleyko. “We thank the Wayne County Consortium and Sora for working with us to help ensure that the materials available through the service are all appropriate for students at that grade level.”
Dearborn Public Schools and many other districts began offering books through Sora during the pandemic. Sora is a division of Overdrive. However, concerns arose in the fall of 2022 that Sora was allowing students to access titles that did not meet the district’s standards for age appropriateness. The district disconnected the student accounts until the issue could be resolved.
Since then Sora’s technology was updated to allow districts better control of the collection offered to their students. Dearborn Schools librarians have reviewed the titles in the Sora ebook and audiobook collection to ensure they meet Dearborn Public Schools’ selection criteria. Some titles were removed or restricted to certain grade levels.
Sora for Dearborn Schools students will no longer be connected to the Dearborn Public Library’s digital collection because the district could not manage those materials for age appropriateness. Students and parents can still use their public library cards to access that digital collection through the library’s digital services.
Parents that do not wish their student to have access to Sora’s electronic books or audiobooks can complete the media materials opt-out form. The form can also be used to keep students from checking out physical materials in the district’s 30 school media centers.