WSDLC’s Reach More Readers Challenge Begins Next Week!
The 4th Annual Reach More Readers Challenge will be starting on May 1st!
What is the Reach More Readers Challenge?
In 2022, 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, increasing their awareness of this resource before summer break begins. This challenge has been a huge hit- there was a 19% increase in usage in 2022; a 12% in usage in 2023; and a 21% increase in 2024(!)- so we’re running this challenge again this year!
How Can My School/District Participate?
Every school that joined the WSDLC before March 1st, 2025 is automatically entered into this competition.
What you 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 2025 to the number in May 2025: 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 even score some fabulous prizes!
You can find more information and links to marketing materials, ideas, and shareable QR Codes for curated collections on the WSDLC website.
So get ahead of the summer slide and increase awareness of the WSDLC collections by encouraging your students to participate in a friendly competition with other schools across the state!
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Flipped Classrooms: Usage Statistics
April’s Flipped Classroom topic will teach you how to find out what titles are most popular at your school(s), how many students are utilizing Sora, and much more as we dive in to Usage Statistics!
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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News & Updates from OverDrive
Sora Annual Report
Last month, OverDrive released their 2023-2024 Sora Annual Report. You can read the highlights of that report in a Sora Blog Post here.
We’re particularly excited to see that once again, Wisconsin is in the top-5 states for checkouts!
Sora Sweet Reads Begins Soon!
OverDrive’s summer reading program, designed to encourage students to keep reading all year long, begins in just a few weeks! From May 12th until August 25th, a collection of free and simultaneous use ebooks (and select audiobooks) will be included in the WSDLC collections.
Learn more and get an early view of the title lists here: https://resources.overdrive.com/sora-sweet-reads/
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FAQ: Who to Contact and When?
“I always feel like I’m emailing Amanda, Lena, and Beth because I’m not sure who exactly handles what aspects of Sora support- is there a breakdown of the Sora reps and what specific questions or issues they can help with?”
This is a fantastic question, and one that we’ve started see a little more often lately. Last year, OverDrive created a single-contact email address specifically for WSDLC members to reach the full team: wsdlc@overdrive.com. Each of the WSDLC’s OverDrive representatives are receiving the messages that go to that inbox, and respond to the questions that they have expertise in just as quickly as they would if the message went to their personal inbox.
If you still want to reach a specific member of the WSDLC OverDrive Team, we’ve got that for you, too. Just reach out to the WSDLC Project Managers (wsdlc-info@wils.org) or login to your OverDrive Marketplace account and select Support to find their direct contact info:
“I can help with any questions, requests, or feedback about your OverDrive service.”
Collections support, Advantage Purchasing, Title Lists, Curation
Authentication, Access, Content Access Level adjustments, IT Support
WSDLC Members can find a breakdown of common topics and who they can reach out to on the WSDLC website: Who to Contact with Questions.
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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/.
