What a lovely year of reading we have had at St Johns! I've been so happy to have many conversations with students, staff and parents about great books. While borrowing physical books (or tree books!) has finished for the year so Mrs Levi and I can do a stocktake, we still have access to the audiobooks and eBooks on Sora. I can highly recommend the "Percy Jackson" audiobook series and any of Tristan Bancks' audiobooks - both with great narrators and highly engaging. My son and I have loved listening to them in the evenings.

ACEN (Australian Catholic Education Network) Sora eBook and audiobook service is available, at no charge, for access by students, staff and parents 24/7 from school, home or any location.  The CE pays the annual subscription to Sora for all schools. 

Sora includes a large collection of eBooks and audio-books for students of all year levels, as well as adults.  The collection includes fiction, as well as non-fiction titles related to Australian curriculum topics. The current collection includes over 10,000 eBooks and audiobooks, including ‘Read-a-long’ books.

Sora may be accessed from any tablet, laptop, mobile phone, desktop computer, or loaded onto eReaders for offline reading.   

Sora APP for iPads  - ACEN library Login Procedures

1. Search and install the Sora APP from the Apple Store or Google Play.
2. You are directed to a screen that will read “Find my School.”
3. Choose “ACEN Member Collection.”
4. Sign into the ACEN Member Collection using the student Network Login details and Password (the Diocese from the dropdown menu will be “Canberra-Goulburn”).
5. The Sora home screen appears with the borrower logged in.  A borrower's Account button is at the top of the screen to see current loans and open books that have been borrowed.

Sora ACEN Website

The ACEN Sora website is located at
https://soraapp.com/welcome/login/202541. You will login using the above steps. 

Site Features

• Favorite titles will be displayed.  Click on a title to borrow it, or use the Search window to find a particular title or author’s books.
• Borrower’s title checkout limits and holds are displayed in your account. Titles are borrowed for 14 days and may be renewed.  Titles disappear following the borrowing period.
• Holds may be put on titles that are currently on loan to other borrowers.
• Titles may be read in the browser, or returned by clicking the Return button.
• After the title is opened on the screen, click at the bottom of the screen near the
• Other Advanced features are available for searching titles/groups of titles.  

Title Access Year Levels

Titles in the Sora collection have been given access year level ratings, so students will only be able to borrow titles rated for their level or below.  Students will see all available titles in Overdrive, but titles not able to be borrowed will be greyed out. Eg.  Year 3 students will not be able to borrow Adult level titles. Title are Juvenile (K-4), Young Adult (years 5-8) and Adult (Year 9 – Adult).

Parental Access to Sora

Parents may access Sora using their child’s computer network login details.  The child’s borrowing limit of 3 titles still applies.

Unfortunately, parents will not be able to borrow titles that are above their child’s access level.  e.g. if the child is a Year 6 student, parents will not be able to borrow Adult level books, only Young Adult or Juvenile level books.

Emma Alcock

Teacher-Librarian