It’s Tuesday again, and we have so much to share with you all this week!
WSDLC’s Reach More Reader’s Challenge Begins on Sunday!
The WSDLC is hosting a contest aimed at helping member schools market the WSDLC collections in their schools to help reach students before they depart for the summer!
Every school is automatically entered into this competition; all you need to do is spread the word and get as many students as you can to log in to Sora and check out [at least] one title between May 1st and May 31st! The school district(s) that have seen the greatest increase in the number of students checking out materials in Sora between March and May will be declared the winner! Winners will receive a package of Sora swag, which includes some comfy sweatshirts!
You can find more information and links to marketing materials, ideas, and QR Codes for curated collections here.
So get ahead of the summer slide, increase awareness of the WSDLC collections, and maybe even score some Sora swag by encouraging your students to participate in a friendly competition with other schools across the state!
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Final Week: Flipped Classroom: Marketing & Training
This is our final month of the WSDLC’s Flipped Classroom training program, and it focuses on Marketing and Training! We know this is a hot topic for many of you, and we hope that the ideas and resources we’ve pulled together here can work as a jumping point to implement your own marketing strategies. Included are:
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- Lists of marketing techniques and actions from other WSDLC members and from the OverDrive team;
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- Links to the OverDrive blog’s school library marketing spotlight and previous School Stars winners;
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- Downloadable/Printable flyers, bookmarks, social media images, a coloring page, and so much more that are free to use; and
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- Training Modules from OverDrive that you can send to your students and teachers!
And speaking of marketing, did you know that there is an open document where WSDLC members can share their marketing and promotion ideas? You can find that document here! Contributions are continuously being made, so check back often, and feel free to add your own marketing wins.
New to Flipped Classrooms? During our Flipped Classroom months, materials on various topics are available for members to review, and OverDrive staff is ready to schedule one-on-one 20-minute sessions to answer your questions.
Please let us know if you have any questions or comments on the flipped classroom content; we’d love to hear what you’re thinking!
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Save the Date: Annual WSDLC Membership Meeting is Tuesday, May 24th, 3:30pm – 4:30pm
The WSDLC’s annual membership meeting is a one-hour event that will include a 20-minute talk from a Wisconsin author, highlights from the member survey that was completed earlier this spring, a WSDLC year in review and what’s on the horizon, and all attendees will be asked to approve the WSDLC’s Operational Guidelines.
More details will be coming soon!
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OverDrive Server Maintenance: May 3rd – July 28th
Over the course of the next couple of months, OverDrive will be making updates to their servers. Updates will occur between 5:00 am and 7:00 am, and it’s estimated that service will only be impacted for up to 60 minutes. Anticipated impacts include errors when users attempt to borrow titles, place holds, or return titles. These impacts should only occur during the two-hour maintenance window.
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Item of Interest: Free Online Event in May:
Indigenous Voices: Authentic Children’s Literature in the Classroom and Library
The San Diego, CA County Office of Education is hosting a free online event on May 24th and 25th: Indigenous Voices: Authentic Children’s Literature in the Classroom & Library.
From the event page:
“Native authors scheduled to speak include Cynthia Leitich Smith, Angeline Boulley, Traci Sorell, Christine Day, Brian Young, David Robertson, and Michaela Goade, among others.”
You can find more details on the event and register to attend here: https://sdcoe.k12oms.org/900-215459
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Congratulations To All Battle of the Books Winners and Competitors!
The winners of WEMTA’s 2022 Battle of the Books have been announced, and we are thrilled to see that there were so many teams from WSDLC member schools! 7 of the 15 teams that placed in the top three are from WSDLC member schools, with many more making their division’s Honors Club!
We want to share our joy and excitement for all of the teams and their advisors who participated in this year’s Battle of the Books, and we hope everyone can take a chance to build a team for 2023’s BoB! The WSDLC Project Managers are prepared and excited to continue to support the Battle of the Books by purchasing additional ebook and audiobook copies of the books that make it to the BoB lists each year.
What is WEMTA’s Battle of the Books? BoB is an online trivia competition for K-12 students across Wisconsin. There are three divisions for students to compete in: Elementary, Middle, and Senior. Students can form teams of 2-4 people, and between them read from a list of 20 books. Starting in early February, students have the opportunity to participate in “practice battles”, and the official Battle of the Books runs the last full week of February.
You can find out more about the Battle of the Books, and suggest titles for 2023’s reading lists, on the Battle of the Books webpage.
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The WSDLC project managers and the team at OverDrive are always available if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions.
Not sure who to contact? Check out this handy guide on the WSDLC website: https://wsdlc.org/who-to-contact-with-questions/.
