Happy Tuesday!
Join us at the WSDLC Annual Meeting on Tuesday May 9th, with Special Guest Christina Dorr
All WSDLC members are welcome and encouraged to attend the WSDLC Annual Membership Meeting on Tuesday, May 9th from 3:30pm to 4:30pm!
Registration is open and accessible through this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UBIuZSBPShSnuY6bJWG-Xw
This meeting is open to everyone, so please feel free to share this link with others in your school or district who might be interested in attending this special event! The meeting will be recorded and shared out to all registrants.
We are very excited to welcome as guest speaker Christina Dorr, who will be leading a discussion on Profiles in Resilience: Seeing, respecting, providing resources for, and giving voice to, the youth that live in generational poverty that walk through your doors:
“Imposing middle class values on youth living in generational poverty is counterproductive. It’s only when we understand the lives they lead, and the values they hold, that we can begin to provide the resources and support they need. We’ll talk through some research, my experience both as a child growing up in generational poverty, and my time as a school librarian. Included will be select children/teen books and how the stories and illustrations reflect both the joys and the challenges of these youths’ lives.”
Following Christina’s exciting and impactful discussion, the WSDLC Project Managers will share highlights from 2022, provide an overview of the results of the member survey that was completed earlier this spring, and talk about what’s on the horizon for the WSDLC.
We’d also like to give a huge shoutout and thank you to OverDrive for sponsoring this event!
Thank you all very much, and we hope to see you there!
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WSDLC’s Reach More Reader’s Challenge Begins on Monday!
In 2022, the WSDLC hosted a contest aimed at helping member schools market the WSDLC collections in their schools to help reach students before they depart for the summer. It went over so well (there was a 19% increase in usage that hasn’t slowed down), that we’re brining it back again this year!
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 2023 will be declared the winner! Winners will receive some awesome prizes and a year’s-worth of bragging rights.
You can find more information and links to marketing materials, ideas, and QR Codes for curated collections on the WSDLC website.
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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Updates at OverDrive
The WSDLC team at OverDrive recently shared some updates with members that we want to make sure no one misses:
➢ New OverDrive Contact Email Address
Your OverDrive team has set up a shared inbox for you to send all emails related to Sora/Marketplace/OverDrive to – wsdlc@overdrive.com . Please send emails directly to this inbox and the appropriate contact will get in touch with you!
➢ Update to the WSDLC’s OverDrive Team
Additionally, we are optimizing our teams dynamic and time to ensure you get the best service you need. Connie Bowman will be taking over as your primary contact for all things Sora. You’re in excellent hands with her, alongside your existing Sora team – Amanda Izuka-Lawman (technical contact) and Beth Saxton (Sora librarian).
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Final Week for Flipped Classrooms: Marketing
April begins 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:
- Lists of marketing techniques and actions from other WSDLC members and from the OverDrive team;
- Links to the OverDrive blog’s school library marketing spotlight and previous School Stars winners;
- Downloadable/Printable flyers, bookmarks, social media images, a coloring page, and so much more that are free to use; and
- Training Modules from OverDrive that you can send to your students and teachers!
What are the WSDLC’s Flipped Classrooms?
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.
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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In The Community
WSDLC Project Managers were recently clued in to an amazing resource amid the recent surge in book banning efforts: Book Bans and Native Voices. This resource comes from the American Indians in Children’s Literature, and is designed to help readers develop a critical eye about representations of American Indians in children’s and young adult books.
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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/.
