Weekly Message: October 25th, 2022

Happy Tuesday! This week we’re sharing something new for the WSDLC shared collections, as well as resharing updates from OverDrive, WSDLC self-paced training opportunities, and getting your suggestions for topics for the Annual Membership Meeting (happening in May 2023).

WSDLC New Collection Development Areas

The WSDLC has grown by leaps and bounds since it launched in 2018; from the number of school districts that have become numbers, to the number of students accessing the collections, to the number of resources that are available in the collections. We are excited to announce new titles in the following genres:

Memoirs

Hi-Lo Titles for Middle and High School

Bilingual Ebooks for Elementary, Middle and High School 

New Releases in Audio and Ebook for Elementary, Middle, and High School

Narrative Nonfiction for Elementary, Middle, and High School

And don’t forget: If you have any titles that you would like to see added to the shared collections (especially if they are a part of any of the genres listed above), you can use the WSDLC’s Title Recommendation Form.

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In Case You Missed It: OverDrive News

➢ Classic OverDrive Site/App Ending Soon; Redirect Links Going Live in November

On December 1st, 2022, the classic OverDrive website and App will no longer be available.
On November 1st, the WSDLC’s classic OverDrive website (https://wsdlc.lib.overdrive.com) will be discontinued and the URL will redirect to soraapp.com.

What Will Transfer to Sora

      • If you upload MARC records into an LMS, record links will automatically redirect to Sora on December November 1.
      • Students and staff will retain access to existing checkouts and holds.

What Will NOT Transfer to Sora

      • Any curated collections that were created by library staff on the classic OverDrive website will no longer be available.
      • AudioSync files that are saved in a user’s classic OverDrive account will no longer be accessible.

Next steps

➢ Engaging your students – tips from OverDrive

Last week, WSDLC’s Account Manager, Lena Richardson, sent out a wonderful email on ways to help engage students and encourage them to access the Sora collections. We want to make sure you don’t miss any of these smart tips, so we’re sharing them with you here, too:

‟

    • Give your students a voice – set up a Google or Microsoft form on your library website to capture student book requests
    • Offer a variety of content in addition to offering current and popular ebooks and audiobooks.
    • Curate collections to hook students in on the explore page
      • Curate a “first of the series” collection – this could get readers hooked and invested! Then, follow up with the next titles in the series
      • First of the series lists: Elementary, Middle, High
    • Sora showcase (about)
      • Set up an interactive kiosk in your library to promote Sora to students who come in
    • Hang up and hand out our posters, flyers, and bookmarks from the promotional section of the Resource Center
    • School Stars (about)
      • Check out what other schools have done to promote Sora to their students to gather ideas
    • Use Sora in a variety of ways to exceed your digital library usage

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Flipped Classrooms: Final Week for MARC Records; Advantage Begins November 1st

The WSDLC offers a self-paced training series to help new members get oriented (and as a refresher for returning members) with their membership and the Sora collections. Every month, a different topic and set of materials are highlighted to help guide members throughout the school year. The content of these Flipped Classrooms is intended for Library Media Specialists and anyone else that may help to manage school/district library resources, OverDrive Advantage purchasing, and digital classroom materials. Materials are available for members to review independently, and OverDrive staff are ready to schedule one-on-one 20-minute sessions to answer members’ questions.
October’s theme is MARC Records!

The MARC Records flipped classroom may be short but it is packed with helpful information for members. This lesson introduces members to the kinds of MARC records available through OverDrive and the WSDLC, and details how these records can be managed and uploaded into the Destiny catalog.

Then coming up in November begins the Advantage flipped classroom! This session introduces OverDrive’s Advantage program, and shows users how they can use Marketplace to make the most of their Advantage accounts.

You can find more information on WSDLC Training opportunities and materials here: https://wsdlc.org/training/ 
Find the full calendar of self-paced training topics here: https://wsdlc.org/training/wsdlc-training-schedule/

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Tiny Case Studies: Kindles in the Classroom

The WSDLC Training Series isn’t limited to only the Flipped Classrooms. Some months we also take an opportunity to share Tiny Case Studies that have been submitted from WSDLC Members! WSDLC’s Tiny Case Studies are brief, practical summaries of outstanding things that some WSDLC members are doing that involve Sora and serve as an opportunity for members to share a WSDLC-related problem they had and how they solved it.

During October, we’re highlighting the Tiny Case Study Kindles in the Classroom, submitted by the WSDLC’s Board Member Beth Hennes!

Description: “When offered an eBook, my library users will often scoff and tell me that they “just prefer to hold the book” (which is pretty common and not unique across users). Yet when offered an e-reader, sometimes they warm up to eBooks because the experience is more like a page and less like a screen. However, many e-readers are designed for personal ownership, not just an app you can sign into, which makes them hard to use in a school setting with OverDrive.”

If you’ve done something lately that you’d like to share with the WSDLC Community, let us know! Maybe you’ve put together some creative marketing, started a student reading book club, engaged your school’s teachers on how they can utilize these resources in their classroom, or made a successful case for funding. No idea or accomplishment is too small! You can submit your tiny case study idea by email at wsdlc-info@wils.org or complete the idea form, and we will reach out to you with the next steps!

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WSDLC Annual Membership Meeting: Topic Suggestions

Planning for the 2023 Annual Member Meeting has begun! Every year, the WSDLC hosts an annual meeting to get feedback from members, to highlight the achievements and updates from the year, and to share what changes and updates may be coming soon. This meeting kicks off with a guest speaker or a panel of participants, all centered around a certain theme.

We want to hear from the WSDLC members on what topics or themes you would be most interested in hearing about at this next meeting. You can share your thoughts and ideas in this Padlet: WSDLC Annual Membership Meeting Topic Suggestions.

Note about using Padlet: Padlet is completely free to use, but you do not need to create an account to submit your ideas or to comment on / show your support for others’ ideas. Any comments or suggestions made in our Padlet from a user without an account will appear anonymously. If you do not want to create a Padlet account, but also wouldn’t like to be anonymous, go ahead and sign your name to your idea.

If you have an idea but don’t want to use Padlet, go ahead and email us your idea at wsdlc-info@wils.org.

The WSDLC Board and Project Managers will discuss the ideas provided by members at the next Board meeting, in January.
Thank you very much!

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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/.

WiLS Team