Recorded as an asynchronous session for the OLA Annual Conference held on March 9-11, 2022.
Some schools lack school libraries or adequate access to books to encourage reading and facilitate research. Beginning in Fall 2020, the Southeast Oklahoma Library System began partnering with schools in our service area to provide student access cards that enable students to access all digital resources offered by SOLS and borrow physical materials from our libraries. This project has enabled us to offer library cards to students in our area who may not have had a way to visit our physical locations to receive one. With this partnership, students in our partner school districts now have access to SOLS eBooks and databases that they can access from the classroom, school computer lab/library, or from home. The partnership also provides digital content directly to the school through Sora by Overdrive. The practice is win-win: increasing the use of digital resources offered by public libraries and providing tools that foster improved learning outcomes in schools throughout our community.