Hello hello! It’s first Tuesday of the month, which means we’ve compiled and are ready to share the consortium-wide usage statistics from last month (and they are exciting!). There is also a new Flipped Classroom beginning this month, which pairs nicely with a webinar that will be taking place in just a few short weeks. October is also brining forward our first Tiny Case Study of the year, and we also have a reminder of OverDrive’s renewed collection that Wisconsin students will continue to access through October 2024!
September Usage Statistics
Students returned to the classroom last month, which means Sora usage is back in full force!
- Checkouts have increased at an astonishing rate: September 2023 is now in 2nd place with total number of checkouts in a single month, with 156,617 titles accessed. (May 2023 is still holding the top spot with 167,433 checkouts);
- The number of individual students checking out titles is the highest it’s ever been with 36,569 students utilizing the collections; and
- The wait times for titles on hold have dropped to their lowest levels ever, and are sitting at a manageable 10 days- less than one standard checkout period!
You can view the full calendar year’s statistics, which includes detailed information on circulation numbers, holds, and other metrics, broken down by month, as a Google Sheet here.
If you’re interested in historical data, you can find .xlsx spreadsheets of past statistics at the bottom of the WSDLC Year to Date Statistics page.
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Flipped Classrooms: MARC Records
What is a WSDLC Flipped Classroom?
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.
This month’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.
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 one of the WSDLC’s Board Members, 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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Save the Date: WSDLC MARC Records Best Practices Webinar on October 17th
Since October is MARC Records month, coming up on Tuesday October 17th, from 3:30pm – 4:30pm, OverDrive and the WSDLC are hosting a discussion on MARC Records Best Practices!
Join Connie Bowman of OverDrive along with WSDLC Members Teresa Voss of Verona Area School District and Nell Fleming of the Wisconsin School For The Deaf as they discuss Sora and MARC Records. Teresa and Nell will each talk about whether or not they choose to upload MARC records to their school’s online catalog, why their choice works best for them and how it fits within their workflows, and how they encourage their students to access Sora materials. Connie will round off this webinar with some Sora information and updates, including the difference between Content Access Levels and Audience Levels of titles; and how schools can use the Advantage Filtering Tool.
More information and connection details will be coming soon.
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In Case You Missed It: Spanish Titles for Young Readers Collection Renewed!
Earlier this week, OverDrive announced that their simultaneous use collection Spanish Titles for Young Readers has been renewed for another year! You can read that announcement here:
“OverDrive is committed to providing your school with no-cost, simultaneous access collections. The donated collection, Spanish Titles for Young Readers, has been renewed in its entirety. The complete collection of 69 titles will be available with unlimited access to your school community through October 1, 2024.”
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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/.
