Latest / GCA Unmuted: Voices of Virtual Education / Inside the GCA Library with Julie Ferrer: Virtual Library Services for Every Learner

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Inside the GCA Library with Julie Ferrer: Virtual Library Services for Every Learner · GCA Unmuted: Voices of Virtual Education

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to GTA Unmuted, the podcast where we share the stories and strategies that show how Georgia Cyber Academy makes online learning work.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: When students attend school virtually, it's easy to assume there's no room for a library.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: But at GTA, that couldn't be further from the truth.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: Our virtual school library opens doors to discovery, research, reading, and support for every learner everywhere.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: I'm joined by Julie Ferrer, GTA's federal programs director, who helps oversee the resources, systems, and supports that make our virtual library a living, growing part of the student experience.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: And she might even have a nugget for library partnerships throughout the state to share with us.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: We'll talk about how GTA's library works in a virtual setting, how it connects to federal programs, and why student access to information and imagination matters more than ever.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: So, Julie, thanks for coming on.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: Can you share a story or an example where the GCA library, it really made a difference for a student or a teacher?
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: And just out the gate, I'll let our listeners know.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: The GCA library isn't just the virtual library, but as I understand it, you have also started a program where GCA partners with libraries throughout the state that our students can access.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: So you can either talk about that piece, or you can talk about the virtual uh library in this story, or both.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: You can talk about both.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: But let us know a little bit about uh this GCA library and where you were like, man, this really made a difference for a student or a teacher.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thank you for having me, Halton.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: So I'll start with our virtual library, Sora.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, first of all, I'm so excited to be on here to take a break from my day because I just love talking about our library.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: It's definitely one of my favorite things that I get to do here at GCA.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_02: And so one of the things that I love to do is support teachers in the classrooms, making sure that they are giving the students access to books.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_02: And part of that is really just bringing awareness to the kids that we do have a virtual library.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_02: And so one thing that I heard about from a secondary teacher is what she does each Friday is she does a first, like first chapter read.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_02: And so she'll pick a book from our library.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: Oftentimes it's from our featured collection, like a cultural collection, and she'll just read the first chapter of a book to her high school students, and just that way they um are learning about a new book.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_02: They might get hooked in on that first chapter, and then it encourages them to go into the library and either find that book, or what I really love is once you get kids into the library, they kind of get distracted because there's tons of really great books, and so part of the challenge has just been getting them in there, and once they're in, they really are hooked.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: And the reason that I just loved the way that this teacher does this is because I had a ninth grade teacher that did something very similar when I was in high school, and to this day, one of my very favorite books was because that English language arts teacher um shared it with us as a book recommendation.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: No way, yeah.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: So it was just very sweet.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_02: And so when I heard that that teacher was doing that, it just made my heart happy because I know how that impacted my life, and I'm thrilled that other students will have that same opportunity.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, otherwise, last year at graduation, I got to sit with the valedictorian and the saledatorian before graduation, and they were just chit-chatting about their favorite books, and so of course I had to chime in and find out what they were reading.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and the girls were just so sweet, and they shared all about their love for Sora and all the books in there, and uh, it was fun because I'd had read the same series they did, and so it was like a fun little book club before graduation started.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: What was the book series?
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, oh my goodness, what was the series?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: It was um oh my stars, what is it?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: It'll come to you if you it will come to me.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_02: It was like fun little mystery um family games.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my it will come to me, but it was like a young adult series that I just loved, and we all had a great time talking about our favorite characters from it.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_02: The Hawthorne series, that's what it was.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: There you go.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_02: There we go.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: So you mentioned that the GCA school library is Sora.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: Is is that the name of it?
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: Is that what we refer to it as?
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: What is that?
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: Can you tell me?
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, so Sora is the app that we see the library in.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: And so um many people that are not in the school system may be more familiar with Libby, but it is in fact the same thing, and they're both owned by Overdrive.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_02: That's the parent company, um, where Sora is the is the student-facing library.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: And what type of uh in in Sora what what is offered like in in there across is it available to students and staff uh across all the grade levels or only some?
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: Can you tell us about the access to it?
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, so Sora is really unique.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: It is honestly one of the only virtual full libraries on the market.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um other products may appear as a library, but they're not.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um they're generally for like a a grade band, like K to five.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: Sora is actually a library.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so students K to 12 or staff members can um check out audiobooks, ebooks, and magazines.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_02: And so we run um collections in there.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_02: So when I say collections too, I always try to bring it to what we know, like build coming from our background.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_02: When you walk into a library, if you have ever walked into a physical library, you generally see uh shelves of um like featured books, whether it's an end cap or on top of the shelves in the in the kids' section, and they're usually by season or theme.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: And so right now you could walk into a local library and you would see books all about fall, right?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: Or Halloween, maybe, or any of the fall um holidays and such.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I try to mimic that in our virtual library, and so we have collections when the kids log into Sora, they can explore what would be an end cap.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: And so we might have 50 to even 100 books in a collection, and that way kids aren't having to like search and type for a book like you would in a catalog, but they're just kind of pulled out for them so that way they can see the you can really judge a book by its cover, honestly, in this in this format.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: And so what we do though is I make it fresh every month and sometimes um more than once a month.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_02: I change out those first featured collections, and that way, as the kids are walking into our library, they're seeing new collections, they're seeing book titles that they haven't seen before that they may not know to look for.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's just it's like a regular library, but just in a virtual format, just like we do everything at GCA.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_02: It's like a regular school, but in a virtual format.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: Very cool.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: And when you mentioned these different collections, so when you log in to Sora on that first home page or what have you, because and and that's what I'm assuming it is.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like, is it uh it's a web page?
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: Do they have an app?
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: Is that like how do how do students and families actually access our library?
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: That's a super question because I hate for kids to think that they can only access Sora on their laptop.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know about you, Halton, but if you're going to the beach or somewhere you don't want to be reading on your laptop, that would be kind of awkward and cumbersome.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so Sora has an app that you could download to an iPad or um a like a smartphone.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: So that way it just makes reading on the go a lot easier.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: But then one of my favorite things that nobody really knows.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: So here's a nugget, is that while you can't download Sora onto a Kindle or a Fire, like a Kindle Fire, you can send your books from your bookshelf.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_02: Like when once you borrow a book, you can send the book to your Kindle.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: And so I do read a lot of my ebooks on my Kindle instead of having to read it on my phone or an iPad.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, very cool.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so they can do it on their laptops, they can do it through the app on their any smart devices that they have, and then they can do the secret uh roundabout way of sharing it to their Kindle.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: So um when I'm thinking about the collections piece and logging in, and like that's them first walking into this library.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: Is it curated differently for the different grade levels, or is it just the same home page, but then you sort of have it, do you have it categorized or organized by grade levels?
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: Or like if I was the difference between like we have K to 12, right?
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: So the difference between a first grader logging into Sora and then a 10th grader, what have you, is that experience the same?
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: Is it different?
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: Is it categorized different?
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: Can you walk us through a little bit about that in terms of how is it curated for the different grade brands?
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_02: So one of the greatest things about Sora is that we can keep kids safe in their audience rating by their age and grade band.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_02: So our K to five students only have access to juvenile rated titles.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_02: So a K kindergarten baby is not going to see the same books that our high schoolers are going to see.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: And then once they um are in middle school, they can see juvenile and young adult.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: And then our secondary students can see the whole range from juvenile to secondary.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_02: But one of the things that I think, like putting myself in the shoes of, say, a 10th grader, I wouldn't want to walk into the library and go to the picture book section.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: I would want to go to the young adult section, right?
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_02: Or maybe adult for some nonfiction titles and such.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_02: And so, really, it's on the student to set the filters.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_02: And so, as a secondary student, it would be wise for them to log into Sora and have the filter for young adult set or young adult and adult.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um, for our middle schoolers, they may want to see some of those juvenile titles.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_02: They may not, they may just want to see young adult.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_02: And so, by setting those audience ratings, you're you're reducing the collection number.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: So there could be a collection on um comic books.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_02: The kids love the comic books.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um, they could have the setting for young adult, and that way they're not getting a hundred books in a collection, they're getting 50 books in a collection.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: So it makes it easier to sort through and find a book that you want to read.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I would definitely recommend to our older students to maybe uncheck the juvenile um audience rating under the filters, and that way the library is more personalized to to to be just appropriate for them.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: And can you tell me a little bit about the resources?
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have any control over what titles are in the Sora library, or is that really just we're at the mercy of what Sora kind of offers?
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: And and you mentioned audiobooks and magazines and just ebooks.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Can students only access digital resources, or do they ever get like can they get mailed a physical copy, or is it really just digital resources?
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: Also, is the second part to that question?
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so those are both great questions.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_02: First of all, we are definitely not at the mercy of Sora or Overdrive.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I I get to purchase the books.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_02: So whether it's through a student recommendation or um staff recommendations, I can add books as long as they are available to be added.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_02: So not every publisher or not every author even wants their books in Overdrive, but I don't find that nearly as often.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I buy the books, I talk monthly with uh our curators over at Overdrive and they will recommend books.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_02: They'll build us a cart for uh for whether it's seasonal books or new titles.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I can purchase books before they even come out.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: So when they're brand new, they get straight added to our shelves.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: And so I do rely on um our curator at Overdrive to help me through that process of making sure that we're always getting books that would be of their interest at the various grade levels.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_02: But then also knowing that our kids love the audiobooks, especially our secondary students and most especially our staff members.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_02: We love to read our professional learning books with audio.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and the fun thing about it too, though, is you can actually add notes and highlights to the audiobooks.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: So that's a trick that I could teach anybody.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but no, ebooks, audiobooks, uh, we continue to add the magazines, we continue to add simultaneous use books, and that just means that anybody could check out the same book at the exact same time.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: And that way teachers can use those in their lessons.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um the magazines are always simultaneous use, and we have over 200 magazines in our collection, and it's not just this month, like, oh, it's the October, whatever.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but you can go back years, months and years to find a magazine uh for everybody to read in a class to keep teaching relevant and up to date.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_02: So lots of great resources there, but as far as like mailing a physical book, no, it made me think of Netflix, like back in the day when you um no, but Holton, that is where those library partnerships come in.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: And so several years ago, I just I really wanted to get paper copies in the hands of our students.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_02: So we used to have a curriculum where students were receiving lots of physical books, but when we changed, we were no longer giving those books.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but we all know that having books in the hands of children is beneficial.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: And um, while virtual books are phenomenal, there's a lot to be said about having that physical book in hand.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_02: And so at the time I was in charge of our ESOL program and also um having oversight to our displaced population and just thinking about the fact that many of them are not going to walk into a library.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_02: They um they may not even know that the library is free, or they may even be concerned about getting those library fines that they they wouldn't want to pay.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I reached out to my local library, which was Sequoia Regional Library, and they were so happy that we could just have this partnership where our students get to use their GCA student ID as their library card.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_02: And so um that just like parents don't have to fill out anything.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: There doesn't have to be a proof of address um in the library, there's no bringing your mail, like all those things.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_02: So just being able to reduce the barrier to having access to the library.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: And so we've now built out 13 library partners across the state, most of them being Metro, but also we've got Northwest Georgia Regional Library, we have Savannah Chatham, um Augusta Richmond.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_02: And uh it just allows our kids to walk into a library, use their GCA student ID, borrow a book, and there's so much more.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like, there's so much more to a library than the books there.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so we're really trying to utilize our library partners more.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: Even this year, we're looking at having face-to-face, like in-person clubs meeting at our local libraries, and that way it's an opportunity for our kids to meet other kids at GCA.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_02: And once they're in the library, I'm hoping they'll check out a book.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like you just got to get them in.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and that way our students have access to books without having to pay for them.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_02: So it's a win-win for all the way around.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that library partnership is such a great idea.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing that they can do that.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: And also, what a good idea to student ID.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to, that does eliminate a huge barrier, not having to worry about like, oh, I gotta go in here and figure out how to even get a library card.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's great.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_02: And I didn't even tell you, Halton, the best part of that, this is coming back for virtual books.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_02: So they do connect.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_02: You can add your local library card in your Sora account.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_02: And then that way, if we don't have the book when you're searching for a book and your local library does, you can borrow it through your local library all within the Sora app.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_02: So you can just have access to more books.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's that integration there with the Sora in the local library with these library partnerships that you created.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: Fantastic.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: How does how does this play into or I imagine it does, but what role would you say that the library, these the or Sora rather, what role does Sora play with these library partnerships in supporting federal programs or just making sure that students have access, all students, you know?
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: So Sora, our virtual library, has been funded a hundred percent using federal funds, whether it's our Title I funds or there for a while, we had the ESSER funds from the COVID era.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um so one of the greatest parts about having these local library partnerships is that I can leverage community dollars instead of using our own federal funds.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_02: So instead of having to put so much money into us purchasing the books, I can encourage our students to have those library partnership, um, having their accounts in Sora.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_02: So that way I don't have to buy every book that every child wants at GCA.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: Instead, I can just say, hey, you know, go ahead and add your local account there and then look and see if they have it.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_02: So this also helps with like class sets when a teacher is doing a novel study.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_02: Instead of me having to purchase a book for an entire grade level, I generally order only a percentage of the grade level.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: So that way, like we can continue to leverage the local resources and um kids can get because of Win Dixie from Gwinnett County's library, all within Sora, as opposed to purchasing it for 100% of the kids.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_02: So it's just a great way to be good stewards of our funding.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's so smart.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think other schools could learn, whether they're virtual, they're hybrid, they're brick and mortar?
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: What could these other schools learn from how GCA operates Sora and the library partnerships you've set up?
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so apparently they could learn a lot from us, Alden.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I've actually been asked to uh present for Sora at a couple of conferences, whether it's been in Florida or here in Atlanta, just because for the the district our size, we have more checkouts than most any other district of the of the same size.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_02: So last year alone, we had like over a hundred thousand checkouts in a single year, which is a ton of books.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: And so one thing that other schools um like what I've presented on was really getting the kids into the library.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_02: And one of the barriers that Sora created unknowingly was their mascot.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_02: So if you were to look in clever, um, where our kids could just Click on the little app to get in there.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: They're looking for this little fat robot baby.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, his name is Turbo, but he does not scream library.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: Like he doesn't have a book on him, nothing.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: And so that was a barrier for us because the kids couldn't find the library.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_02: So what I did for a couple of years is I put Turbo on anything and everything that I could.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we were sending out monthly newsletters, like reading newsletters, all focused on reading, and we showed the featured collections.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: We talked about um the Pizza Hut booket or other uh reading programs where kids can fill out a little form and get free food.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: But I put turbo on everything.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_02: I worked with your marketing team and um they turned robot season or they turned turbo into little seasonal images with um summer glasses and sunshine or hearts or whatever.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_02: And that way kids would see turbo and think library.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so that that was something that we did, and it helped because we went from about 70,000 checkouts to over a hundred thousand checkouts uh pretty quickly.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: And our numbers like of students have fluctuated, but our checkouts continue to go up.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_02: So that would be one of the biggest things um that I would share and have shared with other school districts, just getting the kids in the library because once they're in there, they love it, they're hooked.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think sets Sora apart?
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: G because that's I'm using Sora in GCA's virtual library synonymously, right?
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so what do you think sets Sora apart then from what you've seen in other schools?
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_02: That it's accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_02: And just like our generation, um, I couldn't just say our generation, like our students.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: They're growing up in this technology age.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't know about you, Holton, but don't you like to binge on a good episode of I don't know, the office or whatever it is.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_02: We like to watch an episode and we want to just jump into the next one.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: Nobody wants to wait.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: And so what I absolutely love about Sora is I can binge a book series, and I think the kids enjoy that too.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: They don't have to wait for the next book, they can return and grab the next book so easily.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's right there.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_02: You don't have to wait for a ride to the library, it's just right there.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_02: So our kids just have access to hundreds of thousands of books right at their fingertips.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's definitely what makes it unique.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and that's why I love it.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: Do you ever do any type of initiatives or anything where you try to, and you mentioned staff and teachers, where you try to speak with them about like, because you said um that you'll purchase like a percentage of a class set?
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: Did teachers because you're trying to get teachers and students to actually use Zora, right?
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: So um what sort of strategies or things have you done in the past, but besides the branding piece, right?
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like remarketing Turbo, how do you have you done anything that you found has been successful or not in terms of like getting students and teachers to actually use Dora?
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh whether that's like um assignments in the classroom or readings or or what have you, because you mentioned a teacher on Fridays, you know, just shares a chapter.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, have you shared that with other teachers to try to get them to actually do it, those types of things?
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: I was curious, like, are there things, there's strategies or systems that you've done in the past to actually get students and teachers to actually use Sora?
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, several things actually come to mind.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, first, really just teaching the teachers.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_02: And so I think four years now in a row at our big July PD, I've taught sessions where teachers could come in and learn how to use Sora, um, give them ideas.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_02: And so over years now, I have teachers who will just reach out to me and we will build a collection together or we'll think through the best way to get a book in students' hands.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_02: I work with our language arts curriculum uh coordinator, Kate Pruitt, and we meet quarterly to go over the novel studies that we're going to use for um that quarter.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_02: So that way we can plan accordingly.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_02: I can make sure I've got the books on hand before the teachers are ready to teach it.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_02: And one of my favorite things that I did, this was a couple years ago, but um, we did a like a date day with a book, like a speed dating type of activity where um this was for the high school students, and we did it on Valentine's Day, and we put about um 15 books or so, and we just had the title, so like judge a book by its cover kind of thing, and just the first page of this of the book, and the kids would jump into a room, they would flip through the book like within a time limit, and then they would go on to the next book.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: And so it was like speed dating, but it was like speed reading to identify a book that you're falling in love with, and so by the end of the activity, the kids would pick a book and we made sure we had enough copies for the ones that they wanted, and that way they could leave that afternoon with a book that they had fallen in love with to read, and so that was just a fun way to get the kids in there and and find a great book.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: What a good idea! I love that.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: So this might get you pretty fired up, Julie.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: But what would you say to someone who's like, you know what, you can't do online school libraries, you can't be as successful as a brick and mortar school because they're there, it's a physical library, they can just walk in, grab their book.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_01: You can't do it online, that's impossible.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: What would you say to someone who thinks that?
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_02: I would say, where have you been and what rock are you living under?
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_02: Because I know, like, I don't know, I'm the library lady, and so I do read a ton of books.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_02: I love to read, but I don't often go to my local library anymore because Sora is so easy.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: Of course, I do have all the local library cards attached to Sora, so I do have access to so many books.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I I would feel bad for that person.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_02: We might have to sit and just talk it out and let them know.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm I'm known for pulling out my phone and showing people Sora and telling them all about it and um all the stickers that I've earned.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's it's just fun.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like overdrive continues to increase their um like the benefits of their product.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_02: So they're always coming out with something new, they're always listening for feedback, and there's just there's so many things that our kids can do in Sora that you can't do with a physical book, including clicking on a word to find the translation of it.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so there's translation features in there, or even just like the definition of a word.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_02: So you might be reading a book um that might be over your reading ability, or just you're reading a book I all the time, or I'm coming across new words.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: Click on it, what's the definition?
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um, for even our professional development tracks, you can highlight as much as you want and then take notes on it.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_02: So that way later, when you're in your PD track, you can export your notes from just that book, and it has the quote that you highlighted, the page number, and then your notes.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: And so that way you can talk intelligently about the book that you read.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so it just there's so many things, dyslexic fonts.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_02: A regular book can't do that for you.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so there's just so many great things about a virtual library that while I love a good paper book, there's also benefits of a virtual library.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: No, that's great.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think then?
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: Leave us with this.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think then is the biggest lesson you've learned, or just a lesson that comes to mind that you've learned about supporting students through Sora uh and or these library partnerships that you've formed?
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so one of the things that we actually learned several years ago here at um Georgia Cyber, we had a PD day where we brought in Dr.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_02: Ruby Payne, and she shared with us that um you were probably here, Halton.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_02: You remember this day.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_02: This was years ago, but she shared with us that families in lower socioeconomic groups don't have access to paper, or they just don't have paper in their home, and that includes books.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_02: Well, we are a Title I school with a poverty rate of 93%.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_02: That's high.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: So to think about the fact that our students don't have physical materials in their home is no way to increase our literacy scores at GCA or to get these kids reading.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_02: And so what I absolutely love about a virtual library is that 100% of our kids have access to all these titles, not some kids, not one, you know, school that has lots of funding and so they've got all the new books.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_02: No, our entire school has access to 100% of these high-quality reading materials.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_02: And that just makes my heart so happy because I want all kids to have access to great reading resources, despite where they come from.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, love that.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: So here's today's big idea.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: Great school library isn't just a place, it's a bridge.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_01: And when designed with intention, even a virtual library like Sora can open worlds of learning, literacy, and possibility.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks again to Julie for joining us and giving us a window into GCA's virtual library, Sora, and these local library partnerships she's formed.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: If this episode sparked new ideas for your own school or team, be sure to subscribe and join us next time on GTA Unmuted Voices of Virtual Education.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Julie.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Halton.