Hello! Tuesday is here again, and in this week’s message we’re continuing our “[Re]Introduction to the WSDLC” series with an overview of the collections. We also have a short series of reminders of resources that are available in Sora (hellooo TeachingBooks!) and a few upcoming opportunities. Also included is a short list of things you can do to prepare for the new school year, as well as an opportunity for each of you, to share what you’ve been doing that has worked, or that you’re trying new this year that you’re wanting to share!
[Re]Introduction to the WSDLC: Collection
The WSDLC collections in Sora contain over 15,000 individual titles (nearly 13,000 ebooks; over 2,300 audiobooks; and 75 magazine titles), and over 65,000 copies. All titles fall into one of three different collections/access levels:
- K-5 Collection. Also referred to as the Juvenile collection. This has content that has been rated for grades K-5.
- 6-8 Collection. Also referred to as the Young Adult collection. This has content that has been rated for grades 6-8. Students approved for access to the YA collection and will also have access to the Juvenile collection.
- 9-12 Collection. Also referred to as the Adult collection. This has content that has been rated for grades 9-12. Students approved for access to the Adult collection will also have access to the Juvenile and YA collections.
Titles are placed in one of these three collections/access levels based on publishers’ metadata, and adjusted further (as needed) based on professional review sources such as School Library Journal, Kirkus, and CCBC Choices.
Students at member schools can view and check out any title that falls within their assigned content access level(s). In other words, students that are given access to only the Juvenile collection will only be able to view and check out the titles that fall within that collection; they will not be able to view or check out titles from the YA or Adult collections. Titles that are owned by the consortium are available to all students/schools at the title’s assigned collection/content access level. If districts find that there are titles that do not fall in to their local Collection Policies, or do not suit their district, they have the option to enable Advantage Filtering. (To learn more about Advantage Filtering, you can watch this video, or reach out to wsdlc@overdrive.com for support.)
PLEASE NOTE: Sora Content Access Levels do not apply in online catalogs. This means if you upload MARC records for WSDLC content, your students will be able to search for every title in the collection. The WSDLC recommends using Sora for searching directly and not uploading MARC records. Please contact the wsdlc-info@wils.org for assistance or questions.
Selection & Purchasing
The cost of membership to the WSDLC for the 2023-24 year is $1.65/student. Of that cost, $1.40/student is used to purchase content for the consortium’s collections.
The WSDLC shared collections are curated by an OverDrive Content Specialist who selects new content for the consortium to consider for purchases on a weekly basis, based on the review sources mentioned above and while closely following the WSDLC Collection Development Policy. The WSDLC Project Manager reviews these selections, determines the quantity of each title to order, and purchases additional copies of titles to fill holds to enhance the collections (like Battle of the Books titles), and purchases award winning titles and titles that have been recommended for purchase.
Schools also have the option to purchase additional content that is available for only their school(s) that show up alongside the shared collection’s offerings in Sora for seamless access for students. This purchasing is done through a school’s Advantage Account in Marketplace, where schools have the option to be invoiced for purchases or to create a “deposit account” (referred to as Content Credit).
You can find more about Advantage purchasing in OverDrive’s self-guided module Marketplace Essentials: The Shopping & Admin Portal.
Recommend a Title
The WSDLC website includes a form that library media specialists, educators, and others at participating schools and districts can fill out to suggest a title for purchase for the shared collection. Suggestions submitted through this form are collected by the WSDLC Project Managers and then reviewed against the WSDLC Selection Policy (Section C of the Collection Policy). If the suggested title matches this policy, and is available for purchase through OverDrive Marketplace, the title will be added to the collection.
Click here to recommend a title!
You can find more information, including the Collection Development policy and a Statement on the WSDLC Collections, on the Collection Information and Circulation Policies page on the WSDLC website.
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In Case You Missed It: New Resources Now Available in Sora!
We are excited to announce that two new resources/collections are now available in Sora for WSDLC members: Teaching Books and Supersonic Phonics and Decodables!
Teaching Books
TeachingBooks Extra provides students with new opportunities to engage with their favorite books and discover what they want to read next. Use TeachingBooks to:
- Play puzzles, word searches, concentration, and an Author Name Game
- Watch video book trailers for classic, new, and favorite titles
- Listen to authors and illustrators revealing their inspirations
- Find read-alike suggestions for thousands of titles
TeachingBooks can be found within the Sora Explore page, in the Sora Extras section.
Should you have any question on TeachingBooks, please email Mary Graf at maryellen@teachingbooks.net. If you have any Sora-related questions, please use the support email wsdlc@overdrive.com.
Supersonic Phonics and Decodables
Supersonic Phonics and Decodables begin with the very basics of phonetically decodable reading. Starting with the earliest step of CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) and building on this combination slowly, the reader follows a prescribed format supported by the science of reading to encourage reading development. The WSDLC has added 211 always-available phonics and decodables ebooks from Jump! and Bearport Publishing.
These titles which are perfect for supporting literacy growth for PreK through Grade 4, are curated and available until August 31, 2024. (And don’t forget, the link to the curated collection is shareable as-is, so you can go ahead and copy/paste it to send to your students, teachers, and parents!)
View the Supersonic Phonics Reading Skill Chart here.
View the Decodables Reading Skill Chart here.
Please let us know any questions.
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Member Idea Exchange: How Do You Prepare For The New School Year?
The new school year is about to begin, and it’s time to put all of those plans, ideas, and time-tested workflows [back] in to action. For a little inspiration for the WSDLC collections and Sora, here is a small list of New School Year Preparation Ideas:
- Utilize OverDrive’s Sora Back-to-School Checklist that we shared out last week
- Check out your usage statistics from the summer on the Sora activity page in Marketplace to help guide the new school year. You can even filter activity by date to look at your stats from Septembers-past, or filter by branch to compare by each of your schools.
- Prepare for the return of students by updating your curated lists to include new releases, or themed reading
- Plan to promote reading using OverDrive’s free promotional materials
We also want to hear from all of you! What kinds of things do YOU do to prepare for the new school year? Do you have a template message that gets included in your school’s newsletter? Have you been scheduling visits to classrooms to show off the WSDLC collections and provide a walkthrough of Sora? Are you enjoying the warmth of freshly-printed flyers, table tents, and bookmarks? Or maybe you’ve spent some time recently shopping for Advantage titles and creating curated lists of reading?
Share your methods and read what others have been doing in this quarter’s Member Idea Exchange!
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Flipped Classroom: Getting Started Begins on Friday
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 are 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 on their own and OverDrive staff are ready to schedule one-on-one 20-minute sessions to answer members’ questions.
Beginning on Thursday, September 1st, we’ll be starting with, you guessed it, Getting Started! During this flipped classroom, members can get an overview of how to use Sora, learn the various lending models, and get a brief introduction to OverDrive Advantage accounts and Marketplace (with more details on these topics coming in later months).
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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Early Registration for WEMTA’s Battle of the Books Opens on Friday
On September 1st, early registration will open for 2024’s Battle of the Books, hosted by WEMTA!
To help support students as they participate in WEMTA’s Battle of the Books, WSDLC Project Managers are purchasing additional ebook and audiobook copies of the titles on each reading list, and curated collections have been created for each division. You can find (and share!) the curated collections through the links below:
If you aren’t familiar with WEMTA’s Battle of the Books: BoB is an online trivia competition for students across Wisconsin. There are three divisions for students to compete in: Elementary (grades 4-6), Middle (grades 6-8), and Senior (grades 8+). 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 learn more about the BoB 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/.
