
The learning habits of students are shifting dramatically. Some students prefer hands-on, experiential learning, while others enjoy reading or diving deep into concepts to develop a strong understanding. With reading becoming increasingly important, access to diverse reading materials is critical to nurturing these various learning preferences. However, not every student has the privilege of having books readily available. Digital libraries, such as the National Digital Library of India, have made strides in providing access to a wide range of resources, yet not all learners can benefit from them due to connectivity limitations.
This is where affordable digital libraries in schools come into play
By equipping schools with digital libraries, we can ensure that every student, regardless of their location, has easy access to e-books, stories, and other essential reading materials, enriching the traditional classroom environment and fostering a culture of reading.
In addition to affordable digital libraries, the importance of a learning management system (LMS) in schools is becoming increasingly clear.
To truly empower students to explore and access reading materials of their choice, an effective LMS is essential. It should organize e-books, inspirational biographies, stories, and other resources in a structured manner, all available in one easy-to-navigate platform. This allows students to independently explore, select, and engage with the reading materials that interest them. This will help you foster a self-directed approach to reading and learning.
What is a Digital Library for Schools and How Does Digital Library Platforms?
A digital library for schools — also know as a school e-library — is a collection of interactive learning resources such as eBooks, videos, quizzes, and a story based content and more such as eBooks, videos, quizzes, and story-based content that can be accessed through digital devices. Often referred to as a an e book library, it is a curated collection of digital resources (or digital library resources), including texts, images, audio, and multimedia, accessible electronically. Unlike traditional libraries, e libraries in schools leverage technology to catalogue/organize, store, and provide access to information in digital formats with reporting of usage of e learning content for a digital library. These libraries often work offline, and allow users to search, retrieve, and interact with a vast array of digital content remotely, promoting widespread accessibility and convenience.
Digital libraries often employ various technologies such as databases, search engines, and digital preservation methods to ensure the longevity and usability of their collections. With the increasing digitization of information, digital libraries play a crucial role in democratizing access to knowledge and fostering research. They provide a flexible and scalable platform for the storage and dissemination of information in the digital age.
Digital Library platforms help students access personalized content anytime, anywhere – making learning flexible, engaging, and aligned with content and/or curriculum requirements depending upon the objectives of the programme.
For students, a digital library for education not only supplements classroom teaching but also builds slept placed learning and reading habits, imparting 21st century skills.
Schools today have access to several digital library platforms, each offering varied features. Some provide only PDF eBooks, while others bundle in rich media content like videos, stories, and quizzes.
Why are Digital Libraries Popular Today?
Digital libraries are gaining immense popularity in schools today because they address several key challenges faced by modern education.
- Library in every school: First and foremost, affordable digital libraries for schools make a vast range of learning resources easily accessible to students, eliminating the barriers of location, infrastructure, availability, and cost that physical book libraries often pose.
- Personalized learning experience: Digital libraries support the growing trend of self-paced learning. Students can choose resources based on their interests, learning styles, and academic needs, allowing them to dive deeper into subjects they are curious about.
- Up-to-date Content: With the flexibility to update content frequently, digital libraries keep students engaged with up-to-date materials, ensuring that their learning remains relevant and aligned with national/ state educational standards.
- E Books: Digital libraries offer students access to digital editions of both academic books and content focused on holistic development. With easy navigation features, students can effortlessly explore, read, and store these resources hassle-free. This comprehensive approach ensures that learners have a seamless experience accessing educational materials, supporting their academic studies and personal growth in one accessible platform.
- Easy Search and Navigation Tool: Advanced search functionalities in digital libraries make it easy for students to find specific information quickly. Intuitive navigation tools enhance the overall user experience, allowing for efficient exploration of the library’s content.
- Customization and Personalization: Digital libraries often allow users to customize their learning experience. Students can choose content based on their interests, pace, and learning preferences.
What is the iPrep Digital Library Service?
Some features of leading and some of the best Digital Library services in India such as the Digital Library provided by one of the most trusted digital library vendors in India, iDream Education include most of these digital library resources.
iPrep Digital Library includes:
- NCERT e library or CBSE digital library and state board-aligned content
- Bilingual and regional language options
- Seamless offline (local device or server-based access to digital library) or online access
- Integration with almost all devices such as tablets, desktops, notebooks and smart boards and Operating systems such as Android, Windows, Linux
- Dashboards for teachers and students
Digital Libraries and Digital Classroom solutions today go hand in hand and are key handles to digitise learning in India’s Government and Private Schools as well as institutions.
Explore the Range of Digital Library Resources Offered by iPrep
iPrep Digital Library is packed with a diverse range of digital resources designed to make learning engaging and effective:
- Interactive videos for core subjects
- Animated lessons aligned to curriculum
- Digital Book library. with Thousands of eBooks and stories
- Assessments and quizzes for learning validation
- Audio books, poems, and general knowledge content
- Resources for teachers to support lesson planning
These digital library resources are age-appropriate, easily navigable, and cater to different learning levels, ensuring holistic development for every student.
iPrep Digital Library is also one of the best solutions for setting up a digital library with books for schools, and is one of the most reliable and trusted learning and age appropriate digital library resources for schools
Explore: Digital Library Resources in India
Understanding Digital Library Setup Cost in Schools
The cost of setting up a digital library in schools depends on multiple factors:
- Number and type of devices (tablets, desktop, smart boards)
- Server or offline hardware requirements
- Licensing fees for content and software
- Teacher training and technical support
- Maintenance and upgrades
To simplify this, iPrep Digital Library Service offers a per-device or per-student pricing model that includes hardware, software, and support — making it affordable even for budget-sensitive schools.
Types of Cost-effective and Affordable Digital Libraries for Schools
Affordable digital libraries for Schools come in various types, each catering to specific needs and platforms.
Web-Based Digital Libraries
These are digital libraries accessible through web browsers, allowing users to access resources from any device with an internet connection. (Examples: Internet Archive, Open Library, Project Muse etc.)
Institutional Repositories
Hosted by educational institutions, these repositories provide access to scholarly works and other academic materials produced within the institution. [Example: National Digital Library of India (NDLI) IIT Kharagpur]
Digital Archives
These archives preserve and provide access to historical photographs, manuscripts, and other cultural heritage materials in digital format. (Example: Indian Culture Portal)
ICT Labs with Android Tablets/Notebooks or Chromebooks
Setting up a ICT Labs with Android Tablets or Chromebooks in any school is simple and flexible. All you need is a storage and charging rack along with a few devices of your choice, such as tablets, notebooks, or Chromebooks. With a pre-installed Learning Management System (LMS) and preloaded library resources—like books, stories, poems, life skills content, biographies, and more—students will have instant access to a wealth of reading material that caters to diverse interests and learning needs.These digital libraries are designed in line with the ICT scheme under Samagra Shiksha, allowing you to easily convert any classroom, lab, or hall in your school into a digital library. They can be set up without the need for additional infrastructure, wiring, or furniture, making it a highly affordable digital library solution for your schools.
One of the example of affordable digital libraries in schools is our collaboration with M3M Foundation. In partnership for their CSR education initiative, we introduced 30 Primebooks in a school in Nuh, Haryana. These Primebooks, with the preinstalled learning management system: iPrep and were given preloaded with curriculum aligned digital content and reading resources.
Why are Digital Libraries with Android based Tablets and Notebooks the Most Affordable Choice for Schools in India?
Affordable Digital Libraries for schools in India align with the goals of NEP 2020
The National Education Policy (NEP) in India seeks to elevate the standard and inclusivity of education by improving access to resources and promoting quality learning. Digital libraries align seamlessly with these goals, offering a wealth of information and knowledge resources to students. In line with the NEP’s emphasis on digitization, digital libraries provide online access to a diverse range of materials, including e-books, journals, articles, and multimedia content. The cost-effective nature of digital libraries further supports the NEP’s objective of providing high-quality educational content affordably.
Affordable digital libraries for schools contribute significantly to collaborative learning, fostering critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork. They serve as dynamic knowledge ecosystems where students and educators can share resources and collaborate on projects. The flexibility of these platforms accommodates students with diverse schedules, enabling them to learn at their own pace and convenience, aligning with the NEP’s commitment to inclusivity.
Let us take through the Key Features of our affordable digital library solution for your schools
Cost Effective: Our digital libraries are designed to be flexible, easy to set up, manage, and use. The system includes a storage and charging rack that can accommodate devices of your choice, such as tablets, Chromebooks, or notebooks, allowing you to select devices based on your budget and cost-effectiveness. This affordability is essential for us as we envision providing digital access to educational resources without incurring high hardware and infrastructure costs.
Personalised Learning Environments: Digital Library equipped with Tablets, Notebooks and Chromebooks enable a personalized learning environment in schools. Students can use a digital library setup on a rotational basis and access the educational content of their choice and interests. Some schools with our digital library setup are ensuring that every student has access to digital reading and learning content by organizing usage through a structured timetable.
Offline Access to digital library content: Our digital library setup comes with offline digital content, making it an ideal solution for schools in areas with limited internet connectivity. This ensures that students can access the library’s resources without the need for an internet connection, making it perfect for schools in even the most remote regions of India.
Scale and Accessibility: We have successfully implemented our digital library solution on a large scale in schools located near border regions of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, making it easier for schools in any area to upgrade their infrastructure. The accessibility of these devices promotes widespread adoption, ensuring that more students can benefit from digital learning resources, regardless of their location.
Buy Digital Library Management System (DLMS)
Looking for an easy way to bring quality digital learning into your school? Let’s explore how iPrep can make a difference!
Ease of Use: Learning at your fingertips
The iPrep Digital Library for your school can be setup with tablets, notebooks, and Chromebooks, all equipped with a pre-installed Learning Management System (LMS) and preloaded curriculum aligned K-12 digital content, including a wide range of reading resources. The LMS is user-friendly, allowing students to navigate and explore independently, without the need for constant guidance or supervision.
Access Anywhere, Anytime
With all the content preloaded on SD cards or a pendrive, students can access learning materials anytime, anywhere within the school. This innovative solution removes the need for schools to install Wi-Fi or find areas with better internet connectivity, ensuring easy access to digital learning without worrying about infrastructure limitations.
Multi-Category Learning Beyond Textbooks
Students can take benefit from K-12 content includes animated video lessons that connect learning to real-life scenarios, practice exercises to assess understanding, quick revision notes, and simulations for hands-on, interactive learning. They can access the digital library anytime to clarify doubts or explore topics digitally, enhancing their learning experience across subjects.
Holistic Learning Beyond Academics
With iPrep Digital Library in your schools, students can have access to a wealth of resources for holistic learning right at their fingertips. From hands-on DIY tutorials to an Rich digital book library filled with stories, biographies, poems, and life skills videos, students can explore learning that goes beyond traditional academics, fostering all-round development and growth.
Breaking the Language Barrier with Content in Local Languages
You can set up the digital library in your preferred language to create a familiar learning environment that promotes inclusivity in your school.
Access to All Grades: Bridging Learning Gaps
With iPrep Digital Library in your school, you can empower students with access to educational content across all grades, helping them address historical learning gaps. This approach fosters a comprehensive understanding of subjects, regardless of prior knowledge, enabling students to build a solid foundation and achieve grade level proficiency.
Smart Monitoring and Insights into Progress
The LMS integrated on the devices in the iPrep Digital Library offers offline reporting capabilities that monitor and track category-wise usage by students. These reports automatically sync to your project-level dashboards, and the data can be integrated into your command control center. With this setup, you can track daily usage and make data-driven decisions to enhance learning outcomes.
If you looking to setup affordable digital libraries in your school, and are looking for a demo, please share your details here. You can also write to us share@idreameducation.org.
Frequently Asked Questions -
1. What are digital library resources?
Digital library resources include eBooks, story books, audio books, video lessons, quizzes, and interactive learning modules such as CBSE digital library or Tamil Digital Library or Digital Library for Karnataka — all delivered digitally via a platform. It offers flexible mediums of accessing books an e learning content for digital libraries with the option of adding more books and content, and scaling access to thousands of devices or students across institutions, states and regions.
2. How much does a digital library setup cost in India?
Costs of a digital library setup depend on the hardware device, software licensing, offline capabilities, and training. With iPrep Digital Library service offered by one of the best vendors for digital librariy in India, iDream education offers cost-effective per-student or per device pricing suitable for all school and institution types.
3. What is a school e-library?
A school e-library is a digital alternative to a physical library, offering educational content and tools through devices like tablets or desktop or notebooks. It saves maintenance costs, and brings ease of access, replacing traditional libraries that are often cumbersome to update and maintain in this digital age.
4. What is a digital library platform?
A Digital Library platform is a software-based solution that hosts digital content, provides access controls, dashboards, and offline/online learning experiences for students and teachers. It seamlessly integrates with various hardware devices for ease of access of users and is an easy to maintain platform for Education administrators.
5. What is a digital library solution?
A digital library solution is an end-to-end offering combining hardware, software, content, and support to enable scalable digital learning in schools. It is often also referred to as an e book library as it hosts thousands of books and learning resources depending upon the type of users in the institution as well as their learning needs.
6. How does a digital library benefit students?
A digital library empowers students with anytime, anywhere access to a wide range of interactive and curriculum-aligned learning resources, including eBooks, videos, quizzes, and stories. This fosters self-paced learning, strengthens conceptual understanding, and promotes independent thinking. For students in schools with limited infrastructure or teacher availability, a digital library comes as a boon and is a learning companion. It meets the diverse learning levels & needs, and helps bridge learning gaps by self paced digital reading and learning. By engaging students with multimedia-rich content, it also improves attention span and retention, making learning more effective and enjoyable. In essence, a digital library helps students build foundational skills, confidence, and digital literacy—preparing them for both academic success and a tech-driven future.