County library opens digital, audio bookshelves to local students

Thousands of local students in 19 schools and districts have a whole new world of digital and audio books to read and listen to, thanks to the San Diego County Library – and they won't even need a library card.

The County Library has signed on to make its thousands of digital and audio books available to "Sora," an app used by many school districts for its students and libraries. Because of that, students at the schools and districts – using just their student IDs ­– can check out the County Library's wider collection of age-appropriate digital materials.

Migell Acosta, director of County Library, said the collaboration will give students a lot more to read, whether it's to borrow educational materials or books for their own personal reading pleasure.

"This collaboration aims to promote literacy and education by providing a wide range of resources to students who don't have a library card yet but could greatly benefit from the San Diego County Library's vast collection," Acosta said. "We are excited to open up our digital collection to young residents who couldn't previously take advantage of it."

The County Library has a large digital following, offering e-books, audio books and e-magazines around the clock, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to its patrons who download the Libby app, which like the Sora app, is also made by the company OverDrive. In 2020, the County Library's digital circulation increased 56% to more than 3.2 million books and materials.

County officials said school districts in the county's service area that would like to give their students greater access should contact OverDrive to sign up for Sora.

The schools and districts that are part of the library's Sora partnership include Bonsall Unified School District K-12, Fallbrook Union Elementary School District K-8 and Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District K-12

For more information about the County library, visit https://www.sdcl.org/.