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

Hunters and trappers can now use a new, user-friendly online system to access license sales, License Exempt Numbers (LEN), harvest registration, hunting permit and hunter education. Made available from the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, the hunting and trapping license and Conservation Access Pass sales system is fully integrated with the hunter and trapper registration system and hunter education records.

Single-sourcing purchases of licenses, permits, and hunter and trapper education materials are the latest update to DNREC’s ePermitting system, which allows customers to establish a user profile to access a variety of licensing and permitting functions. Recreational fishing license sales were made available earlier this year on the ePermitting system.

The online system enhancements include a more modern look and feel using an improved customer interface and a familiar shopping cart approach, with full compatibility for a variety of desktop and mobile devices.

While the ePermitting system offers a new way to purchase, recreational hunting and trapping licenses and Conservation Access Passes can also be purchased and free License Exempt Numbers obtained at license agents statewide. These services also will be available in the future at the licensing office in DNREC’s Richardson and Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, where sales and transactions are currently suspended during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

For additional information and questions regarding Delaware hunting and trapping licenses, Conservation Access Passes, recreational fishing licenses, and other related services, call the Division of Fish and Wildlife recreational licensing program at 302-739-9918 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The Division of Fish and Wildlife conserves and manages Delaware’s fish and wildlife and their habitats, and provides fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing and boating access on nearly 65,000 acres of public land. For more information, visit the website and connect with DNREC on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov; Joanna Wilson, Joanna.wilson@delaware.gov

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(DOVER, Del.—May 27, 2020)—As part of a growing effort to bring Delaware’s historic places, stories and artifacts to life online, the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs (HCA) has introduced a new digital feature highlighting local music and historic sites across the First State: The At Home Concert Series, now live on HCA’s YouTube channel.

“History and the arts go hand-in-hand and we have a great tradition of playing host to local musicians and performers at Delaware’s historical sites,” said HCA Director Tim Slavin. “The At Home Concert Series makes that relationship even stronger and allows for more Delawareans to connect with our shared history digitally.”

The series is a partnership between HCA and the Delaware Friends of Folk, a Dover-based nonprofit that supports folk music and folk musicians on the Delmarva peninsula and throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. As part of the partnership, the Friends of Folk identifies musicians and groups to perform in the series, and the division provides the performance space and audio/visual expertise for recording the concerts.

In his introduction to the series’ inaugural concert, John Kidd, president of the Friends of Folk’s board of directors noted, “We are in the midst of a very strange situation and artists are suffering along with everyone else. What we are going to try to do with this series is to bring some artists into your computer and let you see what people are doing locally.”

The At Home Concert Series is the latest collaboration between the two organizations. Annually since 2014, HCA has worked with the First State Heritage Park and the Friends of Folk to present The Old State House Concert Series, a set of free live performances held in The Old State House on the second Friday of each month between October and March.

In response to the coronavirus state of emergency, the division has been developing new ways in which Delawareans can engage online with First State history. This included the launch of the Delaware Digital History Museum, available on the HCA website, which provides a wide variety of electronic opportunities to experience Delaware history remotely.

Stay tuned to the division’s YouTube channel for additional performances in the At Home Concert Series. Information on The Old State House Concert Series, tentatively scheduled to resume in the fall, will be posted on the Friends of Folk website.

The Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs is an agency of the State of Delaware. The division enhances Delaware’s quality of life by preserving the state’s unique historical heritage, fostering community stability and economic vitality and providing educational programs and assistance to the general public on Delaware history. The division’s diverse array of services includes operation of five museums which are accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, administration of the State Historic Preservation Office, conservation of the state’s archaeological and historic-objects collections, operation of a conference center and management of historic properties across the state. Primary funding for division programs and services is provided by annual appropriations from the Delaware General Assembly and grants from the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, a federal agency. However, the contents and opinions expressed in the division’s programs and services do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Department of the Interior.

Permit applications and licenses expedited by online transactions

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control continues pivoting to virtual operations both during the COVID-19 pandemic and into the future for greater efficiencies and ease of use for DNREC customers and constituents. The latest advance for DNREC’s ePermitting comes from the Division of Water and covers a spectrum of permit applications and license payments.

The new process is part of the continuing effort to keep DNREC staff and customers safe during the pandemic while providing consistent business practices, and in this case also enhancing the Department’s water-related transactions. Until now almost all permit applications and license forms from the Division of Water required hardcopy submissions, with payment by check or cash.

Online submission and payment can now be made via the ePermitting system for the following services:

Professional License Renewals:

• Well driller
• Liquid waste hauler
• Wastewater operator

Water Supply

• Water allocation permits
• Well permits (use existing application)

Wastewater

• Septic permits
• Site evaluation
• Septic inspections
• Septic system repair/Component replacement
• Authorization to use existing system
• Holding tanks (New/replacement/repair for private systems)
• Septic site waiver request

Wetlands and Subaqueous Lands

• Letters of authorization and Statewide Activity Approvals (SAA)
• New permits or leases
• Supplemental approval for lease/permit
• Jurisdictional determination requests
• Water quality certification
• Wetlands permits

“The COVID-19 pandemic expedited our efforts and to roll out ePermitting developments such as well drilling licenses and other water permitting and licensing, which state staff from DNREC and the Department of Technology and Information implemented in a matter of weeks,” said DNREC Secretary Shawn Garvin. “Contractors and constituents doing business with our Division of Water have asked for this option since online transactions became a part of State of Delaware business, and we are happy to provide it, especially at this time.”

Many DNREC services are available online, including hunting and fishing permits, sales of park passes and wildlife are conservation access passes (though state park and wildlife area fees and passes are currently waived until further notice), hunter education classes and plenty of virtual content. Public hearings and public meetings are also occurring virtually as well.

About DNREC

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. For more information, visit the website and connect with DNREC on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media contact: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov or Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov

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