September 16th, 2025

Good morning WSDLC members!
In this edition of the bi-monthly message from the WSDLC’s Project Managers, we’re providing information on invoicing from WiLS for your 2025-26 WSDLC memberships. We also want to [re]share some step-by-step to-dos from OverDrive on how school library staff can get Sora on students’ radars; details on the next edition of WEMTA’s Battle of the Books; some tips & tricks for easier login methods for students; and wrapping up this email with ways you can share with the full membership about yourself and some of the impactful ways you have used Sora in your school.
And remember, 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/.

WSDLC Membership Invoicing Update

The 2025-26 WSDLC membership year has begun, and for those districts that indicated in the renewal form (or via MyWiLS for schools who are also WiLS Cooperative Purchasing members) that they would like to receive their invoice(s) in September, invoices are being generated and sent by WiLS’ amazing Financials Team.

Districts that did not respond to the renewal form have now been automatically renewed for the 2025-26 membership year, and those invoices will begin sending within the next week.

Invoices will be emailed to both the Main Contact and the Billing Contact that we have on file for each school/district, and invoices should be paid to WiLS (details can be found on the invoice). If you have any questions on your invoice, or need any language adjusted for quicker/easier processing, reach out to us at wsdlc-info@wils.org.

And just for fun, here are the final renewal numbers:

  • 294 districts renewed their memberships for 2025-26, and
    15 districts have been auto-renewed.
  • 6 districts made adjustments to their membership by adding access for more of their students, and
    14 district made adjustments to the current students’ Content Access Levels
  • 3 districts have chosen not to renew their WSDLC Membership.
  • 130 districts requested/received their 2025-26 WSDLC membership invoice ahead of September 1st, and
    156 districts have received their invoices already this month.
  • 5 districts have joined the WSDLC (so far) this year.

All of this amounts to the 2025-26 WSDLC membership year starting with:

  • 497,741 Students,
  • 1,288 Schools, and
  • 314 Districts

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From OverDrive: Monthly To-Dos to Boost Student Engagement

OverDrive has recently created and released a step-by-step monthly guide to help schools get their students logging into Sora, and to keep them returning to it all school year long: Skill Up with Sora!
You can learn more and download the full kit of monthly activities and training resources here.

And in case you missed them or your new to the wsdlc-members listserv, check out these other kits and training opportunities:

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In the Community: Registration is Open for WEMTA’s Battle of the Books

Registration is open for 2026’s Battle of the Books, hosted by WEMTA!

To help support students as they participate in WEMTA’s Battle of the Books, WSDLC Project Managers are purchasing additional ebook and audiobook copies of the titles on each reading list, and curated collections have been created for each division. You can find (and share!) the curated collections through the links below:

If you aren’t familiar with WEMTA’s Battle of the Books: BoB is an online trivia competition for students across Wisconsin. There are three divisions for students to compete in: Elementary (grades 4-6), Middle (grades 6-8), and Senior (grades 8+). Students can form teams of 2-4 people and, between them read from a list of 20 books. Starting in early February, students have the opportunity to participate in “practice battles”, and the official Battle of the Books runs the last full week of February.

You can learn more about the BoB on WEMTA’s Battle of the Books website.

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WSDLC Tips & Tricks: Easier Login Methods for Students

Especially at the start of the school year, we hear from member schools that they would love to see an easier way for students to log in to Sora, particularly for younger students.

To help reduce the number of steps students need to take to access materials, one thing you can do is utilize direct links to your school’s and/or district’s Sora login page.

To get your school’s direct link:

  1. Navigate to the WSDLC’s Sora log in page: https://soraapp.com/welcome/login/202765​
    (You’ll need to log out if you’re logged into Sora)
  2. Scroll through the list to your school; or begin typing your school/district into the Search box
    Click on your school’s name
  3. Grab the URL from this page, and share it out alongside other library resources.
    Examples: on your school library webpage; add to your school’s Google Classroom waffle; place the link in e-communications; turn it into a QR code for printable materials

Is this not quite a solution you’re looking for? It’s possible that a more direct sign-in process is possible, depending on the authentication method(s) your school utilizes. Find more information about OverDrive-ready authentication methods in this PDF, or reach out to the WSDLC team at OverDrive at wsdlc@overdrive.com for more options.

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Reminder: Two Ways to Share Your WSDLC Experience(s)

The WSDLC is more than just a resource to enhance digital content offerings to Wisconsin students- it’s an opportunity for K12 library staff to connect, share ideas, and crowdsource best practices. And with that, WSDLC Project Managers have come up with two ways for WSDLC members to highlight and showcase some of the work they’ve done:

WSDLC Member Causerie
The WSDLC Member Causerie is a brand new opportunity for staff at WSDLC member districts to share a little bit about themselves, their school, their discoveries and processes with Sora, and ways they’ve gotten their students, colleagues, parents, and/or other stakeholders engaged with their digital materials in Sora.

Fill out this form– completing as much, or as little, as you are comfortable- and be featured in an upcoming weekly newsletter!

Tiny Case Studies
WSDLC’s Tiny Case Studies are brief, practical summaries of outstanding things that some WSDLC members are doing that involve Sora and serve as an opportunity for members to share a WSDLC-related problem they had and how they solved it. We highlight these Tiny Case Studies during various Flipped Classroom months, but you can also view them all by clicking the following link or copy/pasting it into your browser: https://wsdlc.org/training/tiny-case-studies/.

If you’ve done something lately that you’d like to share with the WSDLC Community, let us know! Maybe you’ve put together some creative marketing, started a student reading bookclub, cleared a hurdle with getting students to team up for 2023’s Battle of the Books, engaged your school’s teachers on how they can utilize these resources in their classroom, or made a successful case for funding. No idea or accomplishment is too small!

You can submit your tiny case study idea by email at wsdlc-info@wils.org or complete the idea form, and we will reach out to you with the next steps.

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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/.

WiLS Team