How do I use Bookshare?

Scott Richards Updated by Scott Richards

What is Bookshare and who has access?

Bookshare is for people who find it difficult to process or comprehend printed words, see text in books or on a screen, or physically manage books or reading devices

The individual user has a qualifying condition such as:

  • Reading deficits that interfere with decoding words and reading comprehension.
  • Visual Impairments such as blindness, low vision, macular degeneration, and other types of vision loss that make it difficult to see words on a page or screen or read without enlarged font, audiobooks, or braille.
  • Physical Disabilities that make it difficult for students to hold a book, turn pages, move their heads, or physically manage a book or the act of reading a book in the way that someone without such a condition would.
In Bookshare, teachers are Sponsors. To become a Sponsor, ask a current Sponsor within the Boston Public Schools to add you. If you do not know a Bookshare Sponsor within BPS, contact Scott Richards for assistance: srichards2@bostonpublicschools.org.
Sponsors (teachers and staff) can:
  • Create Member accounts for students
  • Create Sponsor accounts for teachers
  • Assign individual books to members
  • Assign Reading lists to members from pre-populated book collections.
Members (students) can:
  • Read books assigned to them by teachers on a Chromebook, or a portable device.
  • Request that a teacher create an individual account so they can independently add books to their libraries.

Which students are eligible for Bookshare?

Students (Members) qualify under that following categories:

  • Visual Impairments such as blindness
  • Reading Deficits such as dyslexia, decoding, and comprehension difficulties
  • Physical Disabilities that make it difficult to physically manage a book.

For students to read using Bookshare, a Sponsor needs to create a member account for them. Each new Sponsor or Member will receive a welcome email with a link to complete the setup.

How do I login?

Staff (Sponsors) and students (Members) who have access can login at www.bookshare.org or via Clever at www.bostonpublicschools.org/backpack using their BPS email and password. If you do not know your password, reset it on the Bookshare website.

Where can I learn more?

Who can I contact if I have additional questions?

Scott Richards: srichards2@bostonpublicschools.org

How did we do?

Getting Started with Google Classroom (Teachers)

How to Access Reading Horizons

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