Rabbit rabbit, and happy Tuesday all!
This week we’re sharing with you all last month’s usage statistics, and a reminder on the pre-built Advantage carts for easier ordering. Coming up in a couple of weeks is an opportunity that you won’t want to miss: Join the WSDLC’s OverDrive Account Manager Lena Richardson for a WSDLC-specific webinar on Advantage Strategies! We’re wrapping up this week’s message with the details for this month’s Flipped Classroom topic: Advantage Accounts & Marketplace.
Have a great week, everyone!
September’s Usage Statistics
With the start of the new school year, WSDLC usage has leaped wayyyy up! Last month, students have checked out 195,415 materials! Breaking that down by format, students read 29,672 Audiobooks; 155,205 Ebook; and 10,538 Magazines. This massive jump in checkouts can partly be attributed to students being back in the classroom, where it can be easier to access digital materials. But it’s also because of YOUR hard work! Showing off Sora and the digital collections available to your students and getting them oriented to the platform when you have classroom time is such a HUGE thing and helps to support the shared (and your Advantage) collections.
With more and more students getting back into the Sora habit, one would expect that holds would also rise, and while they are, the number of titles on hold right now is on the low-end of average: 26,762 Ebooks and Audiobooks are currently on hold. And speaking of holds- the current wait time for holds is back down to 16 days! Right around the time of a standard checkout period.
September has also started off strong with the number of students accessing the collections. September 2024 had the second-highest number of individual students checking out titles, at 42,866 students. (In May 2024, there were 43,491 students.)
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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Upcoming WSDLC Webinar: WSDLC Advantage Strategies on October 22nd, 2024 at 4:00pm
Webinar: WSDLC – Advantage Strategies
Date: Tuesday, October 22nd, 2024
Time: 4:00pm – 5:00pm
Description:
Join WSDLCs OverDrive Account Team to learn about the benefits of your advantage account and strategies to make the most out of your students Sora experience.
Registration is required to join. Please reach out to wsdlc-info@wils.org for the registration link.
And don’t forget about another OverDrive-hosted webinar later this month:
Back-to-School Picks for Your Students from OverDrive Librarians Webinar
with the WSDLC’s Digital Content Specialist, Beth Saxton
On Thursday, October 24th, join OverDrive staff for a webinar that will cover some of the most anticipated title releases expected this fall.
Webinar: Back-to-School Picks for Your Students from OverDrive Librarians
Date: Thursday, Oct 24, 2024
Time: 2:00pm – 2:30pm
Description:
Get ready to elevate your digital collection this back-to-school season with recommendations from OverDrive’s expert staff librarians! In this webinar, we’ll guide you through the must-have books landing on your digital shelves for the upcoming season.
What You’ll Learn:
- Top Picks for Every Age Group: Discover the best titles for K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 students.
- Diverse Genres and Interests: Explore a range of genres designed to captivate and engage all readers.
- Exclusive Shopping Link: Receive a special link to easily shop all the featured titles and enhance your digital library.
Whether you’re looking to refresh your collection or find new ways to connect with students, this webinar is your go-to resource for the latest and greatest in children’s and young adult literature. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to keep your digital shelves stocked with the best back-to-school reads!
Please reach out to wsdlc-info@wils.org for the registration link.
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Reminder: Advantage Bundle Carts for Easier Ordering
We know that it’s not always easy for library staff to find the time to purchase additional digital materials for their students to supplement the shared collections available in Sora- all while leveraging budgets to have the greatest impact- so let OverDrive do it for you!
What Are Advantage Bundle Carts?
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.
In August 2024, an entirely new set of Advantage Bundle Carts were packaged and are ready for your orders! This month, Beth Saxton (the WSDLC’s dedicated Digital Content Specialist Librarian at OverDrive) has identified the most popular titles in the WSDLC collection since April 2024, and have the following carts available for WSDLC members to purchase for only their students to access:
August 2024’s High-Demand Title Bundles
When completing the order form, you’ll have the opportunity to specify if you’re purchasing 1-, 2-, or all 3 of the packages; and 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!
Orders will be processed on Wednesdays.
Previous Advantage Bundles are still available, too!
The three Advantage Bundle Carts that were released earlier this year can still be purchased. (Or purchased again!) Just reach out to wsdlc-info@wils.org for the details and ordering information.
- April 2024’s High Demand Title Bundles
- Hi-Lo Titles for Middle & High School
- January 2024’s High Demand Title Bundles
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.
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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October’s Flipped Classroom: Advantage Accounts & Marketplace
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.
It’s month two of the Flipped Classroom training series, and we’re taking a deep dive into Advantage Accounts & Marketplace! This flipped classroom introduces the Advantage program and shows how users how they can use Marketplace to make the most of their Advantage accounts. Learn about Lending Models, adjusting the Content Access Level for your Advantage titles, make the most out of Class Sets, and so much more!
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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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/.
