February 1, 2021

Have you been wishing you could get to the library for a new book to read? Maybe you are working to reach a reading goal and can’t get to a library, or your library just doesn’t have the one book you want to read. Our new digital resource SORA provides online access to books within the TCSS district collection, and also within the Tuscaloosa Public Library (TPL) collection. A TPL card is not needed. Any TCSS student or faculty/staff member with a Clever login has free access to the digital books and audiobooks available through SORA.

SORA provides access to books for all grade levels, kindergarten to high school. The easiest way to access the digital books is by logging into Clever and scrolling down to the Library, Books & Reading headline. Under this heading you will find the SORA app. The icon looks like a rocket soaring through the sky. SORA is also available as a free app to add to your devices.

Once you click on the icon, login with your TCSS student/teacher login. Especially the first time, you may need to type in the school district (Tuscaloosa County Schools) and/or the name of your school. The first digital collection of books will be the TCSS District collection that the librarians are currently building, so it is still limited.

You may also add the Tuscaloosa Public Library collection, which is much larger. This is done by going to the three lines in the upper right corner. Clicking on the lines will open a menu. Go to the ADD A LIBRARY feature. Add the Tuscaloosa Public Library. You may need to type Tuscaloosa Public Library into the box.

Once the TPL collection opens, there is a search box toward the top of the screen, or you can browse through the collections by level/genre by scrolling down the page. When you BORROW a book it goes to your SHELF. The shelf icon is at the bottom of the screen. From the SHELF, books can be RENEWED or RETURNED, among other options.

When you BORROW a book, always check it out using the TUSCALOOSA COUNTY SCHOOLS option, even though it may be that you are checking a book out from the Tuscaloosa Public Library. This way, you will not need a TPL library card.

When checking out a digital book through SORA, using your TCSS Clever login, SORA knows the grade level of the student. There are three levels: Juvenile (K-5), Young Adult (6-8), and Adult (9-12). Therefore, an elementary student will not have access to content that has been deemed young adult or adult.

If you have difficulty, the TCSS librarian at your school can give further assistance. All TCSS students have a Clever login. If a student does not know their login, they should contact their school. Thank you to our TCSS library media specialists for working to make this new resource possible!