Support summer reading with Sora: 5 ways to keep students engaged all season long

While summer can be a well-earned pause from the school year, it can also be a critical time to support students’ reading habits.

With Sora, your school’s library never has to close just because your students are at home. Sora gives educators and librarians a powerful tool to help students stay connected to books, whether they’re reading for fun, building their skills, or exploring new interests.

Below are a few ways you can meet your students where they are during their summer adventures and support reading all break long.

1. Make reading easy and accessible anywhere

Access to books is one of the biggest obstacles to summer reading success. When your students use Sora, they can read anytime and anywhere – whether they’re on vacation, at camp, at home, at sports practice, or elsewhere. All they need is a device and their school login.

Encourage your students to:

• Download the Sora app ahead of break
• Explore your school’s curated collections and start a TBR list for the summer
• Read independently or with their families

Summer is a great opportunity to help students see reading as a natural part of everyday life – not just something that happens at school.

2. Offer choice to keep students engaged

When students can choose what they read, they are more likely to remain engaged. Sora makes it easy for students to browse by genre, subject, or format – so don’t forget to create a few fun curations of titles for your Sora Explore page ahead of summer break. Giving students the ability to explore and exercise agency will help them find books they’re excited about.

Consider highlighting:

• High-interest series starters for reluctant or busy readers
• Nonfiction and STEM titles for your most curious learners
• Comics and graphic novels to pull in your visual learners
• Audiobooks for readers who prefer listening or need flexibility

Choice empowers students to read for pleasure while school is out and maintain the literacy gains they made throughout the year.

3. Use always available titles to minimize barriers

Always available books are especially valuable over summer break when students may want to check out multiple titles at once for a vacation, or they don’t want to bother with holds because they’re not checking app notifications as frequently.

These titles can help eliminate waitlists and ensure consistent access for all students.

Now is a great opportunity to:

• Supplement your existing Sora collection with always available content (like Sora’s All Access subscriptions packages)
• Promote always available or concurrent-use titles tied to summer themes or cross-curricular learning
• Set up reading challenges in Sora with these titles so that you don’t have to worry about whether or not students have enough copies

4.  Partner with families to support reading at home

Family engagement can make a big difference in summer reading success. Encourage families to explore Sora together and build shared reading routines, like reading a story together and discussing at dinner, taking turns reading aloud to each other, or listening to an audiobook together in the car.

To help your students’ families get involved, you can:

• Share tips on accessing Sora through newsletters, end-of-year communications, or social media.
• Promote ebooks and audiobooks as a great option for family reading time.
• Emphasize that Sora works on personal devices as well as school-issued devices, and that books can be downloaded for offline access.

Reading together builds habits that can last well beyond the summer months and keep momentum going into the next school year!

5.  Reach more readers with Sora Sweet Reads

One exciting way to support summer reading in Sora is through Sora Sweet Reads, our annual program of always available ebooks and select audiobooks designed specifically for summer access.

This year’s program runs from May 18 through Aug.24, 2026 and includes:

• Over 150 titles for students in grades K-12.
• More than 130 titles are available outside of the U.S. and Canada, with 97 titles being available worldwide.
• Fun content groupings, including America 250 and Unearth a Story.
• A strong selection of comics and graphic novels.
• Plus casual reads, nonfiction, STEM learning, and more.

All Sweet Reads titles are always available – no holds or waitlists. Students simply log into Sora, choose a book, and start reading.

Keep the momentum going!

Last school year, students around the world checked out more than 59 million ebooks and audiobooks in Sora. With thoughtful planning and the right tools, this year can be even more impactful.