Every Public School Student Now Has Digital Access To Books

With schools facing the challenge of unfinished learning due to the pandemic, the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) is providing access to online books to every K-12 student in the state. Students can use their school credentials to read required and recreational digital books in the OverDrive Education Sora student reading app. Students also now have seamless access to age-appropriate popular ebooks and audiobooks from the Delaware Libraries’ OverDrive digital collection.

The DDOE invested federal Elementary & Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to provide students with access to educational and popular digital books that will be available to schools and their 144,000 students. The digital collection is available for students to borrow and read on any device inside the classroom, at home and anywhere 24/7. Families will receive their sign-on credentials through their students’ schools.

“We are excited all public school students in Delaware will have the opportunity this summer to immerse themselves in literacy,” Secretary of Education Susan Bunting said.

Said State Librarian Annie Norman, “Delaware Libraries are excited to partner with the Department of Education to share seamless year-round access to eBooks for children and youth.”

Despite a disrupted year in the classroom, the DDOE focused on shifting the narrative from learning loss to unfinished teaching and learning, and from remediation to acceleration to promote action grounded in a growth mindset. As such, the DDOE committed to seeing that all Delaware public schools’ students and staff can access resources to support learning acceleration. The DDOE also partnered with community-based organizations to encourage use of the OverDrive Education reading activities throughout the summer and extended learning. Regardless of where students are, they are receiving high-quality educational services and opportunities to learn, 24/7.

Digital books and on-demand digital class sets in the collection were selected from identified HQIM (high quality instructional materials) curricula. This collection features high-quality curriculum titles adopted by each of Delaware’s districts and charters, plus a digital collection of popular ebooks and audiobooks. Curriculum titles include Llama Llama Time to Share, The Snowy Day, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Esperanza Rising, The Lightning Thief, Patient Zero and The Omnivore’s Dilemma among others. Popular titles for choice pleasure reading include Smile, The Crossover, Miles Morales, New Kid, The Baby-Sitters Club series, Pete the Cat series, One of Us Is Lying, I Survived series, A Scarf for Keiko, Concrete Rose and more. In addition, the collection features ebooks and audiobooks in languages other than English, including translated books and authentic texts from native speakers.

In addition, the DDOE and Delaware Libraries’ partnership allows Delaware students to borrow from both the Delaware Accelerate Learning’s collection of classroom and pleasure reading titles as well as Delaware Public Libraries’ titles. Sora will automatically filter content to only include age-appropriate titles depending on each student’s grade level.

 

Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006


Delaware Youth Wins Top Prize in Library of Congress Contest

The Library of Congress recently announced the winners of its “A Book That Shaped Me” Summer Writing Contest, a program that asks rising fifth- and sixth-graders to reflect on a book that has made a personal impact in their lives. A Brandywine Hundred Library patron, Rachel Smookler, was the 1st Place Grand Prize & Delaware State Winner. Rachel wrote about Jack and Louisa: Act 1 by Andrew Keenan-Bolger and Kate Wetherhead.

Nearly 300 young readers submitted essays to participating public libraries in the Mid-Atlantic region in this fifth year of the contest. Launched in 2012 with the DC Public Library, “A Book That Shaped Me” expanded with the help of public libraries in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The local libraries offered the contest as part of their summer-reading programs.

Five finalists per state were chosen in an initial round of judging. The finalists each will receive a $50 gift-card prize.

Judging was conducted by members of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The AASL works to ensure all elementary- and secondary-school librarians participate as collaborative partners in the teaching and learning process.

The grand-prize judging round, which selected state and grand-prize winners from the pool of state finalists, was conducted by a panel assembled by the Library of Congress that included educators, children’s authors and Library of Congress staff. This year’s guest author judge was Jason Reynolds, recipient of the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent, who was a presenter at the 2016 National Book Festival.

Each state winner will receive another $50 gift-card prize. The first-, second-, and third-place grand-prize winners will be awarded additional gift-card prizes in the amounts of $200, $150 and $100 respectively.

Grand-prize winners read their essays during the “A Book That Shaped Me” awards presentation at the Library of Congress National Book Festival. The contest presentation took place at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016 and was emceed by Eun Yang, NBC4 Washington television anchor.

Grand Prize & State Winners

1st Place Grand Prize & Delaware State Winner
Rachel Smookler, New Castle County Libraries – Brandywine Hundred Library, who wrote about Jack and Louisa: Act 1 by Andrew Keenan-Bolger and Kate Wetherhead.

2nd Place Grand Prize & Maryland State Winner
Julia Lucy Grumet, Montgomery County Public Libraries – Bethesda Library, who wrote about The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.

3rd Place Grand Prize & Pennsylvania State Winner
Mikayla Phasupong, Citizen’s Library, who wrote about The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss.

Delaware Finalists
Molly Amerling, Frankford Public Library
Emily Carpenter, Dover Public Library
Lucy Goodwin, Hockessin Library, New Castle County Libraries
Lauren Woods, Hockessin Library, New Castle County Libraries

About:
The Delaware Division of Libraries, a state agency dedicated to unleashing the potential in all Delawareans in partnership with Delaware Libraries, offers free access to the online catalog (delawarelibraries.org); Wi-Fi; computers/internet; eBooks, programs/workshops, community partnerships, and more.

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States—and extensive materials from around the world—both on site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov, access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov, and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.


Governor Jack Markell Presents Donated Books to Terry Children’s Center

Wilmington – Applauding the public’s generosity during a month-long book drive in February, today Governor Jack Markell presented a portion of 3,000 books donated to the Terry Children’s Center (TCC). Joined by Secretary Jennifer Ranji of the Delaware Children’s Department and TCC staff, Governor Markell indicated that the large stacks of books displayed behind him represented only a fraction of the donated reading materials being presented. The book drive, entitled “Enjoy Reading? Share the Love,” was publicized primarily through social media including Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube.

“I am constantly inspired by the goodwill and supportive nature of Delawareans,” said Governor Markell. “We’re finding more frequently, that the power of social media can be harnessed for the collective good of society. In this case, it will enhance the quality of life and academic enrichment for the children served here at the Terry Children’s Center.”
Operated by the Delaware Children’s Department, the TCC provides services to children ages 6 – 12, who may be experiencing one or more of a variety of mental health challenges. Bothresidential and day treatment services are available. The donated books will further help support the children’s treatment efforts.

“We’re grateful to the Governor and his staff for spearheading this effort and for the overwhelming response by the public,” said Secretary Ranji. “These books will provide increased opportunities for children to have focused, one-on-one interaction with not only staff, but also their parents as they read these new selections to them.”
Also joining the Governor and Department staff for the event were representatives from the Delaware Division of Libraries and AmeriCorps, both of which were recognized for the significant role they played in the book drive. Eight State Library sites across Delaware served as collection sites for the books, including:Wilmington, Hockessin, Kirkwood, Newark, Appoqunimink, Dover, Bridgeville, and Millsboro Public Libraries.

“The state’s libraries played an important part in this effort, which had a simple mission but will have long-lasting positive impact on our young people at the Terry Center,” said Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock, who oversees the Division of Libraries. “Our libraries play so many important roles in our communities, and they continue to make Delaware a great place to live and grow.”

AmeriCorps members were instrumental in coordinating pick up of the books from each of the sites throughout the campaign and delivering them to the Children’s Department so that staff could screen them for age and subject matter appropriateness. The heart of AmeriCorps mission is service to others.

“The Share the Love Book Drive was a great way for Delaware’s AmeriCorps members to help meet another community need and make a difference in the lives of vulnerable children,” said Charles A. Harris, Social Services Administrator and Delaware AmeriCorps Program Director at DHSS. “For our members, it was an opportunity to join in and learn as the state engaged the public and various partners in serving others.”

The Children’s Department provides services to children who have been abused, neglected, are dependent, have mental health or substance problems, have been adjudicated delinquent by the Courts, as well as prevention services targeted toward all youth. For more information, please visit www.kids.delaware.gov.