Lee & Low Guidelines for Virtual Book Read Alouds During COVID-19

Virtual Read Aloud Guidelines Lee & Low

During this critical time, we realize the absolute importance of continued learning in ways that do not put our students at risk. For this reason, Lee & Low is granting permission to allow educators and librarians to do virtual read alouds of our titles for non-commercial purposes only. Here are our guidelines for reading Lee & Low titles online:

• Please note at the beginning of your recording that you are reading with permission from Lee & Low Books.

• Recordings of full books should only be posted/shared on closed platforms such as a private YouTube channel or password-protected school platform. [Please note: Fair Use laws permit no more than 10% of a book’s content (about three spreads for most picture books) to be posted on public channels such as YouTube and Instagram Live].

• Story time or read-aloud events featuring our books may be streamed live through platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube Live. However, please make sure recordings of these events do not remain in your archives for more than 24 hours after the event has concluded.

• Please tag @LEEandLOW when discussing any recordings featuring our books on social media

• Please encourage readers to access the book through a digital lending platform (e.g. Sora/Overdrive, Epic!, Follett TitleWave, or MackinVIA) whenever possible.

• Reporting: Please use this form to notify us when you post a stream or recording using our books.

By posting a reading, you agree to the above terms.

For nonprofit inquiries, commercial permissions/subrights inquiries, or if your permission request does not fit the above guidelines, please fill out our Permissions & Subrights Form.

21 thoughts on “Lee & Low Guidelines for Virtual Book Read Alouds During COVID-19”

    1. Hi Yulanda,
      This agreement is specifically designed for educators, librarians, and booksellers to support virtual learning.
      Thanks,
      Hannah

  1. Thank you SO MUCH!! We had a LONG conversation with some authors yesterday about contacting publisher for permission! You are the FIRST to respond proactively. We will be SURE to give you all a HUGE “shout out”!!!
    Ase’
    FAME on FB Families Accessing Multicultural Education

  2. I am a teacher in Fluvanna, Virginia and I am volunteering with the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) by broadcasting one-15 minute lessons to be aired on Radio Poder 1380 in the coming weeks. The schedule of the lessons is plan to air on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10:10 to 10:30. This new collaborative project between the VDOE and the Richmond-area Spanish language radio is a way to engage Virginia’s approximately 70,00 Spanish-speaking English Learners (EL) and their families during the extended school closure. My proposal involves reading stories aloud and asking questions that would model deeper and critical thinking skills. You have a wonderful book title “The Woman Who Outshone The Sun” and I would like to use this book for one of the broadcast. Do you think this could be possible?

  3. I work for a library district that would like to do 3-5 minute reading spots on the local NPR affiliate. We have chosen three Lee & Low titles we would like to read from. These would be recorded, aired 2 or 3 times over the course of 7 days, then deleted. I’m not sure this fits into the current COVID-19 permissions, especially since these will be scheduled well into the summer. How should we proceed?

    1. We have revisited the Lee & Low permissions statement and revised our project to fit those guidelines. It just seemed easier. 🙂 We will use your reporting form to follow-up when our project begins.
      We would like to thank Lee & Low for their generous support of Libraries, Educators, and young readers. 

  4. Will you be extending these temporary guidelines through the summer?
    Thanks for your support of libraries and schools over the past few months.

  5. Hello! Have you extended your permission for read aloud, following the guidelines you outlined, past June 30, since so many schools will be offering versions of remote learning in Fall? Thank you!

  6. Hello,

    We are doing an AAPI Celebration and would like a community member to read one of your picture books. May we post an unlisted YouTube recording on our distict website FB page and remove the recording when the celebration is over?
    Thank you.

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