As school librarians, we are uniquely positioned at the intersection of literacy, technology, creativity, and community. Through the lens of the AASL National School Library Standards, our work focuses on empowering learners to become informed, engaged, and creative global citizens.

Future Ready Librarians are instructional leaders who design learning experiences that amplify student voice, support digital and media literacy, foster collaboration, and connect learning beyond the walls of the school using the Future Ready Librarians® 3.0 Framwork.

When we look at the digital tools that help us meet these goals, one stands out again and again in libraries and classrooms: Book Creator.

Book Creator doesn’t just support one standard or one initiative—it touches nearly every component of the AASL Standards and the Future Ready Librarians framework. From literacy engagement to research projects, from collaboration to community connection, Book Creator provides meaningful, and creative ways for all students to show what they know and who they are.

Here are 8 meaningful ways to use Book Creator in your library and community.

1. Inspiring Literacy Growth With Book Creator

Book Creator inspires literacy growth by giving students powerful tools to read, write, reflect, and share their learning in meaningful and creative ways.

Book Creator turns literacy into an active experience and one that supports creativity, accessibility, and student choice through:

  • Independent reading reflections
  • Book reviews and recommendations
  • Reading challenges and book clubs
  • Podcasting and more!

In Book Creator, you can “play” your book and highlight words by using the built-in “Read to me” feature, accessed via the Play button, which reads text aloud with word-by-word highlighting and auto-plays media for an immersive reading experience.

2. Creative Writing With Purpose and Audience

With Book Creator, students can bring their writing to life with the various tools like drawing, backgrounds, icons, and by adding photos, videos, and even their voice throughout the books. The stories can be published, shared with classmates and families, and read globally.

You can download, print, laminate, and bind the books to become part of the library collection or classroom libraries. What a wonderful way to celebrate your writers! .

3. Book Creator Makes Research Exciting and Fun For All Learners

Book Creator supports research by giving students a flexible, student-centered space to inquire, organize, and create. As students research, they can gather information from multiple sources and synthesize their learning using text, images, audio, video, and links—all within a single book.

I love using Book Creator to create choice boards filled with curated research articles, eBooks, and other resources. These choice boards invite students to explore topics through inquiry-based learning, while still providing guidance and structure—making research more engaging, meaningful, and accessible for every learner.

4. Media and Digital Literacy in Action

Book Creator provides a safe, structured environment where students can actively practice creating and analyzing media in thoughtful, responsible ways.

Book Creator encourages reflection on author perspective, bias, and purpose, helping students think critically about whose voices are represented and how information is framed. When students publish digital stories with intention—choosing formats, visuals, and narration to match their message—they develop essential skills in communication and digital citizenship.

This work mirrors the themes found in my own books, including Sonia’s Digital World and ISTE Digital Explorers, and reinforces the school librarian’s role as a media literacy leader, guiding students to navigate today’s complex media landscape with confidence, curiosity, and care.

We have created book companions in Book Creator that are perfect to use when teaching, supporting, and practicing media and digital literacy skills.

You will find them here to remix and use with your students too.

5. Special Events Throughout the Year

From World Read Aloud Day to Poetry Month, STEM nights, cultural celebrations, and school-wide challenges, Book Creator shines during special events. In Book Creator, we can create shared books where classes contribute pages, reflections, or creative responses tied to the events.

In Book Creator’s Discovery Library, there are dozens of templates and ideas focused around special events, topics, and so much more. I love the monthly activity books and share them with our teachers and students each month.

These projects build community, create learning opportunities, and celebrate special events in creative and unique ways.

6. Collaboration Across Classes, Schools, and the World

Book Creator is collaboration-friendly by design. Students can work together within a class, across grade levels, or even with partner schools globally.

Collaborative books might include:

  • Cross-grade mentor projects
  • Global story exchanges
  • Shared inquiry projects
  • Library-led schoolwide publications
  • Book Creator’s special writing events like Be An Author

The translation feature in Book Creator supports opportunities within these collaborative projects. You can translate text, audio, comments, videos, and entire books using its built-in translation feature to make content accessible in over 100 languages.

7. Marketing the Library and Sharing the Story

Book Creator is an incredible marketing tool for our libraries.  We can create:

  • Digital posters and flyers
  • Library newsletters (can include a weekly or monthly video)
  • Event recaps with photos and video
  • Student-created promotional content
  • Shelf signage and labels

The sky is the limit!

Creations can be published and shared by the link or QR code provided. They can also be downloaded and printed.

This opens up opportunities between school and public libraries, library staff, and related arts teams to collaborate and work together on marketing assets.

8. Choice and Voice: The Heart of It All

Perhaps the most powerful reason Book Creator works so well in libraries is simple: students choose it!

Book Creator honors student identity, creativity, and agency—while still meeting instructional goals and standards.  Whether through writing, drawing, audio, video, or design, students can select the formats that best represent their thinking and learning.

In conclusion, Book Creator empowers learners to take ownership of their work, see themselves as creators, and share their stories with authentic audiences.

I know your students will love Book Creator too!

Visit the amazing Empowering Teacher Librarians Book Creator site for ideas, information, and a whole library of books librarians love!

You can sign up for Book Creator here.