Happy Tuesday! This week’s message includes November’s usage stats for the consortium, a reminder on the Annual OverDrive sale and an easier way for WSDLC members to purchase from the sale, plus we’re sharing a couple of opportunities coming from WEMTA. It’s a new month, which also means that another Flipped Classroom topic has begun: this month we’ll be showcasing Curation in Sora!
Find Us Today At SLATE!
The annual SLATE (School Leaders Advancing Technology in Education) Conference is this week (December 4th-6th) at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells, and WSDLC Project Manager Sara Gold and OverDrive’s Connie Bowman will be in the exhibit hall all day today (Tuesday, Dec 5th)!
For those of you attending, we’d love to see you! Please stop by the WiLS/WSDLC booth (#318) to chat with Sara about the shared collection, have your questions answered, and grab some sweet WiLS swag! Also make sure to head on over to the Sora/OverDrive booth (#316) to say “Hi” to our very own Account Manager Connie Bowman, and also learn about what’s new, coming soon, and in development with OverDrive and Sora.
What is SLATE? SLATE is an annual conference hosted by Association of Wisconsin School Administrators (AWSA), the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators (WASDA), and Wisconsin Educational Technology Leadership (WETL). This year’s conference includes over 100 sessions on technology in education meant for a wide variety of educational leaders including Teachers, Principals, Associate Principals, District Administrators, Library Media Specialists, IT Coordinators, Directors of Curriculum and Instruction, and others, focusing on technology in schools and advancements that can be used in the classroom to help students succeed.
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November Usage Statistics
Usage of the WSDLC collections during the month of November held steady compared to the rest of the school year:
- Total Checkouts in November: 174,582
- Ebooks Checked Out: 136,966
- Audiobooks Checked Out: 29,576
- Magazines Checked Out: 8,040
- Total Holds in November: 30,416
- Ebooks Placed on Hold: 27,012
- Audiobooks Place on Hold: 3,404
Even with over 30,000 holds placed last month, hold wait times are still around the 15-day mark- just a scooch more than the length of one checkout period!
Another big number that we love to see is that November had the highest amount of individual students using the collections: a whopping 39,423 students checked out a title last month!
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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OverDrive’s End of Year Sale is Happening Now + Easier Purchasing Options!
OverDrive’s biggest sale of the year is on through the end of the year, with up to 50% off on over 100,000 titles! The End of Year Sale includes both eBooks and Audiobooks, and the staff at OverDrive has created helpful lists so you can browse sale titles by format, reading level, genre, and more! Easily find 2023 Releases, Audiobooks under $30, Biographies & Autobiographies, Diverse Reads, and so many more!
Log in to your Marketplace Account for more information, to view sale titles, and to expand your local collections with titles only your students will be able to access.
Reduce your students’ wait times and take advantage of End-of-Year Sale carts for high-demand titles today!
If finding the time to go through lists of sale titles and figuring out what your students need/use the most is not in the cards for you right now, take a look at Premade Carts of Sale Items for WSDLC Members!
The WSDLC’s Digital Content Specialist Librarian at OverDrive has pinpointed all of the most popular titles in the shared collection (most circulated titles and titles with the highest holds) that are currently in OverDrive’s annual End of Year Sale, and placed them all in one of three carts based on titles’ content access levels.
You can view the title lists for each of these carts as a Google Sheet here.
When you’re ready to purchase one-, two-, or all three of these carts, you can either complete the attached PDF form and return it to wsdlc@overdrive.com, or you can submit your order through the 2024 End of Year Sale Cart(s) Order Form (Google Form). Districts/Schools can choose to have their End of Year Sale cart purchase(s) billed by invoice, issuing a PO, or by content credit that they already have deposited in their Advantage Account(s).
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Flipped Classrooms: Curation
December is Curation month for the WSDLC’s Flipped Classroom training series! In this Flipped Classroom, you can learn all about Curation in OverDrive/Sora and how you can create and post your very own curated collections to support your students’ needs and interests.
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 Case You Missed It: Opportunities from WEMTA
Professional Development Webinar Series
The next session of WEMTA’s 2023-24 Professional Development Series will be held next week!
Topic: Harnessing AI for Enhanced School Librarianship
Date: Thursday, December 14th
Time: 6:30pm – 7:30pm
Description: Join WEMTA and Tammy Lind for a discussion on AI and how School Librarians can use it to: Promote Digital Literacy, Curate Resources, Innovate Teaching, and more!
Click here to learn more and to register.
The cost for this webinar is $15 for WEMTA non-members; free for WEMTA members.
Not a WEMTA member? Find out how to join here.
You can find out more about WEMTA’s Professional Development series here.
Submissions are Open for WEMTA’s Book Trailer Contest!
Wisconsin’s students are so incredibly creative, and WEMTA is hosting an opportunity for them to showcase their skills with WEMTA’s annual Book Trailer Contest!
What is WEMTA’S Book Trailer Contest? Straight from WEMTA’s announcement: “The goal of the contest is simple yet powerful: students are invited to create original book trailers that ignite excitement and promote a love for reading. These captivating trailers aim to inspire fellow readers about the Battle of the Books and Golden Archer Award books.”
WEMTA is accepting submissions now through January 19th, 2024. You can learn more about this fantastic opportunity on the WEMTA Book Trailer Contest website.
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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/.
