HUTTO, Texas — Hutto Independent School District (ISD) and Hutto Public Library have formed an innovative new partnership to increase access to more e-books and e-audiobooks 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.
Called Sora, this student reading app allows students to borrow the school’s collection of classroom and pleasure reading, and access Hutto Public 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.
“By partnering with the Hutto Public Library, Hutto ISD students now have access to thousands of more eBooks and audiobooks,” said Angela Hartman, District Lead Librarian at Hutto ISD. “Each student in Hutto ISD has access to a district-issued Chromebook, and Sora is easily installed on Chromebooks and other compatible devices, providing books 24/7. If a student can’t visit the library in person, a huge library is still available to them.”
The Sora app was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions 2019 and is available for Hutto 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.
The entire Hutto community can also borrow and read Hutto Public Library’s complete eBook and e-audiobook collection with a valid library card through the award-winning Libby app.