Happy Tuesday! This will be the penultimate message of the school year, and it’s all about ways to prepare your students to continue using Sora over the summer months!
As a reminder, students do keep their access to the resources available in Sora throughout the summer. And for those students without consistent online access, as long as they have a few minutes of internet connection, they can download titles for offline reading or send a title to an ereader– Below are some how-to instructions and short videos from OverDrive on some ways students can access titles offline:
How-To Instructions on Downloading Checked Out Titles
Video Walkthrough on Downloading Checked Out Titles
How-To Instructions on How to Send Ebooks to a Kindle
Video Walkthrough on How to Send Ebooks to a Kindle
WSDLC’s Reach More Reader’s Challenge is Happening Now!
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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Sora Sweet Reads Is On!
OverDrive’s annual summer reading program, Sora Sweet Reads, has begun! The Sora Sweet Reads collection is filled with simultaneous use titles for all reading levels, and will be available to all WSDLC members through August 17th.
You can find out more about this program, and grab some already-made marketing materials, on the Sora Sweet Reads page.
You can see this curated collection and share it out with your students with this link: https://soraapp.com/library/wsdlcwi/campaign-sora-sweet-reads-10410/titles
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WSDLC’s Marketing Resources
If you’ve been looking to shake things up on how you can highlight your school’s Sora collections, we’ve got you covered! Below is a highlight of the WSDLC’s and OverDrive’s Marketing Resources: printable coloring pages, social media graphics, ideas on how to engage students of all ages, and more!
- WSDLC Marketing and Promotion Resources Page: This includes printables and digital resources created by the WSDLC community that you can use, personalize, and share!
- If you’ve created something that has been a hit at your school that you’d like to share with the WSDLC community, you can either reach out to the Project Managers at wsdlc-info@wils.org, or you can share it directly with the community at wsdlc-members@wils.org!
- OverDrive Resource Center: An ever-changing assortment of marketing and promotional resources for Sora, from OverDrive. Included are social media graphics, coloring pages, and so much more!
- Looking for marketing inspiration? Read past Sora Spotlight posts, browse through 2021’s Sora School Stars winners, and take a peek at what other WSDLC members have done in the Marketing & Engagement Member Idea Exchange document.
If you have ideas for materials or resources you think would be helpful to include in any of these pages, or if you have materials that you think could be helpful to the WSDLC community, please let us know at wsdlc-info@wils.org, and we’ll get it added!
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End-of-Year-Reminder: wsdlc-members Listserv Group
As a WSDLC member, you are subscribed to the WSDLC Member Google Community/Listserv. (Hint: That’s where this email is coming from.)
This listserv is used in a variety of ways:
WSDLC’s Weekly Messaging
Every Tuesday during the school year (well, almost every Tuesday), the WSDLC Project Managers send out a message to WSDLC members to keep you all up-to-date with what’s happening in the consortium: upcoming webinars, usage statistics, updates to OverDrive/Sora, events around the state, and so much more.
Updates, Announcements, and General Information
Through this email list, WSDLC Project Managers also share exciting and important updates on happenings in the WSDLC. While announcements will always end up in the Weekly Message, sometimes an update warrants its very own message. We’ll also send out messages separate from the Weekly Message to call for volunteers to serve on a WSDLC committee or the WSDLC Board; requests to complete surveys; a condensed version of WSDLC Board Meetings; and updates to OverDrive, Sora, and/or the WSDLC Collections.
But most importantly, this listserv is about…
Connecting WSDLC Members to Each Other
Any member of this group can also utilize this listserv for anything related to the WSDLC- use it to ask questions, crowdsource ideas, spread the word on interesting/relevant news, or share your successes and/or locally created WSDLC promotional materials. Compose your message and send it to wsdlc-members@wils.org; from there, you will reach the entire WSDLC Community.
When sending to the listserv, here are some things to keep in mind:
- Include direct, clear subject lines that reflect the conversation. Make it easy for people to know if they want to read your message. If the topic of conversation changes, the subject line should change, too.
- Include a signature block. You know who you are, but others may not. Please include your name, library name, and contact information at the bottom of each list.
- This is not a venue for commercial sales; please, no pitches for new products or sale announcements. Individual libraries are welcome to sell or give away library supplies of potential use to others.
- Be respectful. This is a positive, comfortable place for everyone.
Anyone designated as their school’s/district’s Main Contact is automatically added to the WSDLC-members group, but any staff member at your school can be a part of it too! Send a message to the WSDLC Project Managers at wsdlc-info@wils.org with the email address(es) to be added, and we’ll take it from there.
If you no longer wish to receive these messages, you can unsubscribe and stop receiving emails from it by sending an email to wsdlc-members+unsubscribe@wils.org.
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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/.
