Happy Tuesday everyone! This week’s message includes information about today’s Annual Membership Meeting, and we hope to see you there! We’re also including the links to the easy-peasy advantage ordering forms, and a reminder about the Reach More Readers Challenge that is happening now. To round out this week’s message, we also have information about OverDrive’s annual summer reading collection that just opened up: Sora Sweet Reads, and an answer to a FAQ about summer access to the WSDLC collections.
Have a great week everyone!

Today: 2024’s Annual WSDLC Membership Meeting!

Today is the big day! Join us for an hour this afternoon, beginning at 3:45pm, for the Annual WSDLC Membership Meeting!
Today’s meeting will host two WSDLC Member speakers:

• Beth Hennes from the Madison Metropolitan School District will share her school’s interactive Sora Showcase Kiosk: how students can search Sora right in the library, and the equipment they are using! Beth will round off her presentation by showing off some of tips and tricks on how to make almost any book into a readalong!
• Pamela Mumm from the Rosendale-Brandon School District will be showcasing how Sora has been introduced and integrated in her district and classroom time, and feedback from their students and teachers!

Following these presentations, Sara and Rebecca will share a recap from 2023- including some really impressive usage stats- and provide an overview of what the WSDLC Board, Selection Advisory Committee, and Project Managers have been- and will be- working on to keep this consortium working for you!

Reach out to wsdlc-info@wils.org for the registration link.
Can’t make it? This meeting will be recorded and sent to all registrants.

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New Titles Added in April

Last month, 984 completely new titles were added in to the WSDLC shared collections!
Of these titles:

• 964 are Ebooks and 20 are Audiobooks.
• 785 of these new titles are Simultaneous Use titles (We’re looking at you with love, the recently purchased All Access Essentials Children’s Library ebook collection)
• 898 of these titles have been added to the Juvenile (K-5) Collection; 23 added in to the Young Adult (6-8) Collection; and 63 added in to the Adult (9-12) Collection.

A complete list of all the new titles added in April, along with their format and content access level(s), can be viewed as a Google Sheet here.

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Sora Sweet Reads is on Now!

OverDrive’s summer reading program, designed to encourage students to keep reading all year long, began yesterday! 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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Standing Reminder: Advantage Carts for Easier Ordering

Every few months, the WSDLC’s dedicated Digital Content Specialist Librarian at OverDrive, Beth Saxton, identifies themes of titles in the shared collection and prepackages them into bundles/carts (based on Content Access Levels) that WSDLC Members can purchase for only their 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 get your students the titles they want most.

When completing the order form(s) below, you’ll have the opportunity to specify if you’d like your purchase(s) to be billed by invoice, issuing a PO, or by content credit that you already have deposited in your Advantage Account(s)– whatever works best for you!

April 2024’s High-Demand Title Bundles
Juvenile (K-5): Contains 21 titles*, for $502.42
*It’s worth adding that these titles have about 2,000 holds on them all together– so if you’re debating on where to start, this bundle would be a solid choice.
Young Adult (6-8): Contains 18 titles, for $493.43
Adult (9-12): Contains 16 titles, for $493.88

Hi-Lo Titles for Middle School and High School (April 2024)
Young Adult (6-8): Contains 20 titles, for $292.44
Adult (9-12): Contains 22 titles, for $295.1

January 2024’s High-Demand Title Bundles
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

Notes:
“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.

Please reach out to wsdlc-info@wils.org for more information on the titles lists and on how to easily order these bundles!

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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Reach More Readers Challenge – About 2 Weeks Left!

The Reach More Readers Challenge is about halfway through, and we’re still intently watching those student-access-counts rise! As of this morning, there have been 28,065 Wisconsin students checking out titles from Sora. That’s another 10,000+ individual students since this time last week!

What is the Reach More Readers Challenge?
The Reach More Readers Challenge is a friendly competition between all WSDLC Member districts/schools to encourage students to check out materials from Sora ahead of summer break.
The schools/districts that see the greatest increase in individual students checking out a title have the opportunity to win content credit (the never-expiring deposit of money that can be used to purchase additional title for only your students) or even some sweet Sora swag!

How Can My School/District Participate?
There isn’t a sign up to be a part of 2024’s Reach More Readers Challenge: Every school that joined the WSDLC before March 1st, 2024 is automatically entered into this competition!

What you do need to do is spread the word to your students to have them log in to Sora and check out [at least] one title.
We’ll be comparing the number of individual students that checked out titles in March 2024 to the number in May 2024: The school district(s) that have seen the greatest increase in the number of students checking out materials in Sora between these two months will be declared the winner, and score some fabulous prizes!

How Can I Get Students to Check Out Materials?
Getting students to access Sora and checkout titles is entirely up to you: use tried-and-true methods that have worked in your school/district in the past, or try out something new! Schedule classroom time if you can and give a brief demo and tour to you students; use Sora ebooks in story times; download Sora Coloring Pages from OverDrive and print them with access instructions on the back for your youngest students to take home and share with their grownups; add QR codes that link directly to popular titles or to curated collections to bulletin boards, fliers, or handouts; post Sora links to your social media page(s). It’s cliche to say, but still so true: the possibilities are endless!
You can find more information and links to pre-made marketing materials, gain ideas, and even download ready-made 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 Content Credit or some Sora swag by encouraging your students to participate in a friendly competition with other schools across the state!

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FAQ: Will Students Be Able to Access WSDLC Collections/Sora Through the Summer?

We get this question a few times each May, and we always so excited to reply with a hearty you betchya! The WSDLC collections and Sora are available year-round, and can be accessed just about anywhere and from any device that can connect to the internet: desktop computers to smartphones; dial-up to wifi; the local public library to grandma’s house; and everything in between!

If students are on the move and/or without a stable internet connection, 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

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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/.