Beanstack helps to grow the reading culture in our schools and engages students in some friendly competition as well! Please encourage your child to read for pleasure and log their reading!
R.A.C.E. to Read is back!
Pasco County Schools is excited to host the 2nd annual R.A.C.E. to Read Pasco! district-wide, Pre-K-12 reading challenge for the 2024-2025 school year. All students and staff are invited to participate. We collectively read over 30 million minutes last school year! The new challenge is to collectively read 35 million minutes from August 12, 2024 – May 16, 2025. Minutes will be logged via Beanstack, and celebrations will be school based.
We encourage you to Read Across the County Every Day!!
Logging minutes is easy!
All Pasco County students have access to free ebooks and audiobooks! The Sora app is on their myPascoConnect dashboard. Watch this video to learn how to get started.
https://help.overdrive.com/en-us/9709.html
You may also access additional information about reading a free Sora ebook:
https://resources.overdrive.com/begin-reading/
And you can review these directions to learn more about listening to a free Sora audiobook:
https://help.soraapp.com/en-us/5025.htm
** Please note that students who have Limited or Opt-out status for Library Media Centers will not be able to access Beanstack or Sora.
Effective July 1, 2022, each book newly made available to students through a school library media center or included in a recommended or assigned school or grade level reading list must be selected and approved by a District employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is purchased, donated or otherwise made available to students.
The District's Library Media Specialists will endeavor to stay informed about appropriate new publications, using multiple sources, such as discussions with colleagues, attendance at conferences, and reading a variety of periodicals and book reviews. The Library Media Specialists will also receive and consider suggestions or requests brought forward by other faculty, students and parents.
Potential new books for the school library media center and reading lists will be evaluated to determine if they would be suitable for student needs and whether they would be appropriate for the intended grade level and age group. In considering possible new acquisitions, the Library Media Specialists will consult reputable, professionally recognized reviewing periodicals and school community stakeholders. The Library Media Specialist will also assess the level of student interest in the subject(s) presented and the ability of students to comprehend the material. Books that are selected must be free of pornography and material prohibited under F.S. 847.012.
The goal of the selection process is for the school's library media center and reading list collections to be based on reader interest, the support of State standards and aligned curriculum, and the academic needs of students and faculty.
After evaluation, the Library Media Specialists will inform principals of those books that have been evaluated and are approved for inclusion in the collections.
Periodically, books will be removed from the collection or discontinued, based on their poor physical condition, low rate of recent circulation, non-alignment to State standards, out-of-date content, or status following a parent's or community member's objection.
Click here to access the documents provided to members of the review team
A parent, legal guardian, or resident of Pasco County may formally object to materials made available to students in a school or classroom library, or materials included on a school or classroom reading list. An individual(s) requesting that material be withdrawn must follow the Library Media Center Materials Challenge Process.
During the challenge process, the book is only removed from the collection if the challenge is due to alleged pornographic or sexually explicit content. The book would then be removed within 5 school days of receipt of the objection and remain unavailable to students of that school until the objection is resolved. (HB 1069)
Challenge Process Steps
Parent concern about Library Media/Classroom Library selection received at school level