More K-12 Students Reading on OverDrive Digital Reading Platform

DENVER, CO--(Marketwired - June 27, 2016) - AT THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE (ISTE) - A record number of K-12 students are reading digital books using the OverDrive digital platform for schools. In the 2015-2016 school year, approximately six million students had access to eBooks and audiobooks and the number of digital books borrowed in OverDrive-powered schools increased nearly 60 percent. More students are embracing digital books because digital technology has made reading more accessible. Through the use of OverDrive Read® and a catalog of over two million titles from more than 5,000 publishers, students are reading eBooks instantly in their browser, in class, at home, both online and offline with no software or downloads.

OverDrive will be available to discuss this trend at the ISTE Annual Conference in Denver, June 27-29 in booth 2737.

One of the most compelling drivers of the rapid growth in digital books in schools is OverDrive's growing selection of 2 million titles from over 5,000 publishers, easily accessible on any device, which ensures students get the right titles at the right time. This past school year saw the addition of new best sellers such as Raymie Nightingale (Candlewick Press), and new Read-Alongs like 2016 Newbery Medal winner Last Stop on Market Street (Penguin Young Readers Group). OverDrive also has added hundreds of eBooks geared specifically to young readers, such as graphic novels, comics, many of which include Read-Along capability such as I Am Superman.

Teachers want digital books that will engage students and are easily accessible at any time and any place. The flexibility of using digital novel sets for assignments is also driving more reading in the classroom, specifically in ELA. The most frequently used digital novel sets from OverDrive's catalog for this past school year are:

1. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Quirk Books)
2. The Book Thief (Random House Children's Books)
3. To Kill a Mockingbird (HarperCollins)
4. The Maze Runner (Random House Children's Books)
5. Wonder (Random House Children's Books)

To view the complete list visit the English & Language Arts Collection at OverDrive.com.

To enable students to easily discover books in the growing catalog, OverDrive is collaborating with DOGObooks -- the largest website for kids and teens to safely discover, rate and review books. Book reviews from DOGObooks on the OverDrive platform will help students explore the school's growing catalog and select books. As part of the agreement, DOGObooks.com now enables kids to find digital books through a "Borrow eBook" button. While reading book reviews on DOGObooks.com, students can now click on the button to find an eBook from their school or public library digital book catalog.

For more information about the OverDrive service for schools, visit the OverDrive booth at the ISTE Annual Conference (booth 2737) or www.overdrive.com/schools.

About OverDrive

OverDrive is the leading digital distribution platform, supplying the industry's largest catalog of eBooks, audiobooks, streaming video and periodicals to 34,000 libraries and schools worldwide. We support all major computers and devices, including iOS®, Android™, Chromebook™ and Kindle® (U.S. only). OverDrive delivers all digital media on a single platform, and offers innovations such as OverDrive Read, the breakthrough EPUB and HTML5 browser-based reading experience, and Read-Along eBooks. Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, Ohio USA and is owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten. For more information, visit www.overdrive.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and our blog.

About DOGObooks

DOGObooks is the largest website for kids and teens to safely discover, rate and review books. The site features over 185,000 book review pages, book excerpts and video trailers. DOGObooks, also has book clubs, contests, giveaways, Summer Reading Programs and more book related activities for kids. DOGObooks reviews are also available on search engines and book buying platforms to help kids and adult book buyers know what's popular among kids. See http://www.dogobooks.com/