Happy Tuesday! It’s the second Tuesday of the month, which means we’ve compiled the list of all of the brand new titles that were added in to the shared collections last month! We have a few reminders in this week’s message, along with some amazing opportunities from around the state.
New Titles Added in March
Last month, 203 completely new titles were added in to the WSDLC shared collections!
Of these titles:
183 are Ebooks and 20 are Audiobooks.
134 are in the K-5/Juvenile Collection; 20 are in the 6-8/Young Adult Collection; and 49 are in the 9-12/Adult Collection.
56 of the titles are Nonfiction; 147 are Fiction.
A complete list of all the new titles added in February, along with their format and content access level(s) can be viewed as a Google Sheet here.
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Reminder: Quarterly Selection of High-Demand Titles for Easy Advantage Ordering
Every few months, the WSDLC’s dedicated Digital Content Specialist Librarian at OverDrive, Beth Saxton, will be identifying the most popular, high-demand titles in the shared collection, and prepackaging these titles into three different sets/carts (based on Content Access Levels) that you can purchase for only your students just by completing a quick Google form! No thinking about how to best leverage your budget, and no logging in to OverDrive Marketplace. Just a simple, straightforward way to reduce your students’ wait times on the titles they want most.
Pulled off the digital shelves and bundled together in January 2024, this quarter’s three prepackaged sets of high-demand titles are:
Juvenile (K-5): Contains 53 titles, for $996.17
Young Adult (6-8): Contains 19 titles, for $499.92
Adult (9-12): Contains 18 titles, for $551.27
Please note:
“High Demand” is determined as the audiobooks and ebooks that have the highest numbers of holds and checkouts within the shared collections.
These lists are not customizable for ordering. Please reach out to the OverDrive team at wsdlc@overdrive.com for additional options.
When you’re ready to purchase one-, two-, or all three of these packages, you can submit your order through the WSDLC High Demand Titles Order Form (Google Form). When completing the form, you’ll have the opportunity to specify in you’d like your purchase(s) to billed by invoice, issuing a PO, or by content credit that you already have deposited in your Advantage Account(s).
Save yourself time and money, and help get those high-interest, high-hold titles into the hands of your students faster by ordering today!
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Ending Tomorrow: Volunteer for the WSDLC Selection Advisory Committee!
We are seeking volunteers to serve on the WSDLC’s Selection Advisory Committee, to begin on September 1st, 2024! WSDLC Members can volunteer to serve on the Selection Advisory Committee through Wednesday, April 10th.
At the WSDLC Board Meeting later this month, the list of volunteers will be reviewed by the Board, and 2-4 volunteers will be selected to join the WSDLC Selection Advisory Committee, to begin a 2-year term on September 1st. Committee members will be chosen to have a diversity of geography, enrollment size, and grade level experience.
Volunteers will be notified by the end of April whether they have been selected by the Board to serve on the Selection Advisory Committee.
About the Selection Advisory Committee
The Selection Advisory Committee is an integral part of the WSDLC’s governance. The Selection Advisory Committee recommends the scope and direction of the collections included in the WSDLC, and they advise the project manager and vendors on operational collection decisions, including content to be included and budget allocations, as directed by the Board and Collection Development Policy.
Committee members are expected to:
Attend and participate in scheduled meetings unless excused.
Review provided materials, including circulation/hold reports, budget updates, etc.
Participate in online discussions to make collection decisions between meetings.
Act as an advocate and representative for the WSDLC.
The Committee meets 4 times per year: in September, October, December, and March.
Committee members serve for 2 year terms.
You can view the full Selection Advisory Guidelines, which includes the committee’s full charge, membership, member expectations, and meeting schedule details, here.
Requirements to Serve
To qualify for the Selection Advisory Committee, volunteers must be a library media specialist from a WSDLC participating district/school.
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In the Community: WEMTA April Professional Development Webinar Book Challenges & Related Issues: How CCBC Can Help
Later this week, WEMTA will be hosting a webinar that we want to make sure WSDLC members are aware of:
Topic: Book Challenges & Related Issues: How CCBC Can Help
Date: April 11th, 2024
Time: 3:00 pm (CST)
Cost: FREE for WEMTA Members, $15 for Non-Members (Learn more about a WEMTA membership here)
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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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Coming Soon: Opportunities to Get Ahead of the Summer Slide
Back by popular demand are two opportunities for WSDLC members to help keep students utilizing Sora resources all summer long!
Reach More Readers Challenge
Two years ago, the WSDLC and OverDrive began hosting a competition between all WSDLC member schools to encourage students to check out a title in Sora during the month of May. The hopes for this contest was to increase awareness of the materials available before students left the classroom for the summer, and for the last two years it’s been a hit and has hit that goal, so we’re keeping it going!
Every school that joined the WSDLC before March 1st 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! The school district(s) that have seen the greatest increase in the number of students checking out materials in Sora between March 2024 and May 2024 will be declared the winner, and score some fabulous prizes. WSDLC Project Managers will be sharing resources over the next couple of weeks for schools to utilize to help market the collections to students. If there is anything in particular that you would like to see, or if you have any resources that you’d like to share with the whole WSDLC community, let us know at wsdlc-info@wils.org, or share on this listserv!
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!
Sora Sweet Reads
OverDrive’s summer reading program, designed to encourage students to keep reading all year long, will be back this May! From May 13th until August 26th, a collection of free and simultaneous use juvenile, young adult, and [new this year!] adult ebooks (and select audiobooks) will be included in the WSDLC collections. These titles will be available to participating schools and prominently displayed in Sora so it’s easy for students to find their next sweet read.
Learn more here: https://resources.overdrive.com/sora-sweet-reads/
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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/.
