KERRVILLE, Texas – January 13, 2021 – In this mobile age, technology has become increasingly valuable in supporting new generations of lifelong learners and readers. Now, KISD and Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library have formed an innovative new partnership to increase access to more ebooks and eAudiobooks for students. This unique collaboration strives to promote literacy and digital learning by combining the schools’ and the library’s digital reading resources in one app. As a result, students can learn anytime, anywhere because of the convenience, ease of reading on-the-go and the inherent popularity of technology.
"We love the extensive collection of ebooks and audiobooks for our students and teachers,” said Melanie Graham, Hal Peterson Middle School Librarian. “The benefits to building vital literacy skills have been proven, but the cost wasn't budget friendly. Now, all Kerrville Independent School District students will have equal access to their favorite titles and authors."
The school-library partnership provides safe access to thousands of age-appropriate titles for students’ use inside the classroom, at home and anywhere 24/7. Through Sora, the new student reading app for Kerrville ISD, students can now borrow the school’s collection of classroom and pleasure reading, and also access Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library’s juvenile and young adult digital collection. In addition, Sora supports teachers by offering education-specific tools like achievements, exportable notes, and reading progress that encourage individualized learning.
"I like Sora because you can preview the ebook before you read the rest. You can also return the book right after you're done with it," said Nayli-Faye Smith, a 7th grader at Hal Peterson Middle School.
City of Kerrville Library Director Danielle Brigati added, “I am incredibly excited that the Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library is able to help facilitate access to our collection of ebooks and eAudiobooks to our KISD students. Digital resources are critical in building a love of reading and creating life-long learners, and we are happy to be a part of that.”
The Sora app was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions 2019 and is available for Kerrville ISD students to download through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, and on Chromebooks that support the Google Play Store. It is also available for use in web browsers at https://soraapp.com on any computer.
Since Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library is a member of Lone Star Digital Library, the entire Kerrville community can also borrow and read Lone Star Digital Library’s complete ebook and eAudiobook collection. With a valid library card from Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library and the award-winning Libby app, patrons can enjoy thousands of ebooks and eAudiobooks including bestsellers and new releases. Readers of all ages can select from virtually every subject ranging from mystery, romance, children’s, business and more. Libby can be used on any major device or computer, including Apple (R), Android™, Chromebook™ and Kindle(R) (US only).
Both reading apps are built by OverDrive and OverDrive Education. To learn more, visit https://meet.soraapp.com/ and https://meet.libbyapp.com/.