Good morning, and happy snowy December everyone! This edition of the bi-monthly WSDLC Membership Message includes:
- a look at the refreshed OverDrive/Sora Training Resources page on the WSDLC website,
- November’s consortium-wide usage statistics,
- the completely new titles that were added to the shared collections last month,
- a FAQ answered regarding Curations, and
- a reminder that November’s newly-created Advantage Bundle Carts are available and ready to purchase
Refreshed OverDrive/Sora Training Resources Page
With a multitude of thanks to OverDrive and the WSDLC Training Resources Focus Group (a small group of WSDLC members) the Training Resources page on the WSDLC website has been updated!
The OverDrive / Sora Training Resources page now highlights the topics that WSDLC members look for- and ask about- most often, with quick answers and direct links to step-by-step how-tos and video walkthroughs in OverDrive’s training center.
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November’s Usage Statistics
Looking at November’s Sora usage across the consortium:
- 34,457 Audiobooks were checked out,
- 177,112 Ebooks were checked out, and
- 11,733 Magazines were checked out,
all adding up to a monthly total of 223,302 titles read, by 47,529 individual students across the state.
Taking a step back and reviewing the year-so-far: Through November 2025 there have been 2,074,698 checkouts made by 142,426 individual Wisconsin students.
- WSDLC’s newly updated Training Resources page | Reports section,
- WSDLC’s Flipped Classroom: Usage Statistics,
- OverDrive Resource Center’s training videos, and/or
- OverDrive’s self-paced View Sora Activity training module
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New Titles Added in November
Last month, 66 completely new titles were added into the shared collection!
- 11 Audiobooks: 2 Lower Elementary; 3 Upper Elementary; 1 Middle School, and 5 Lower High School
- 54 Ebooks: 23 Lower Elementary; 19 Upper Elementary; 7 Middle School; and 5 Lower High School
View the full title list (with format and CAL) as a Google Sheet here.
(This Google Sheet also includes the new titles added each month, so if you ever miss a month, we’ve got you covered!)
You can find more information, including the Collection Development policy and a Statement on the WSDLC Collections, on the Collection Information and Circulation Policies page on the WSDLC website.
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FAQ: How can I refresh the collections on the front page of Sora?
As a member of WSDLC you have a choice in what your student’s see on the Sora Explore page. You can show the WSDLC curations, or create your own with Advantage (custom) Curation.
Curations help students find books that interest them, and curations in the WSDLC (custom curation turned “off”) are refreshed monthly. If Advantage curation is turned on, students no longer see the regularly updated WSDLC curations.
The attached PDF provides a quick overview of OverDrive’s Curation tool, with a step-by-step process on how to turn it on/off, with links on resources on how you can customize curations (if that’s something you choose to do).
If you have any additional questions on Curation, you can reach out to:
- The WSDLC’s OverDrive/Sora Digital Content Specialist, Beth Saxton: bsaxton@overdrive.com
- The full WSDLC OverDrive/Sora Team: wsdlc@overdrive.com
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Reminder: November’s Advantage Bundle Carts
Exclusive for WSDLC Member schools, three brand new Advantage Bundle Carts have been curated and are available for purchase:
November 2025’s High Demand Titles Bundles
“High Demand” is determined as the audiobooks and ebooks that have the highest numbers of holds and checkouts within the shared collection.
High Demand Elementary | 19 titles | $512.61
High Demand Middle | 12 titles | $509.04
High Demand High | 14 titles | $484.15
WSDLC November 2025 High Demand Titles Order Form: Reach out to the WSDLC Project Managers at wsdlc-info@wils.org
Winter Holidays Titles Bundles
Winter Holidays – Elementary School | 19 titles | $497.00
Winter Holidays – High School | 20 titles | $497.62
WSDLC November 2025 Winter Holidays Titles Order Form: Reach out to the WSDLC Project Managers at wsdlc-info@wils.org
High Interest Nonfiction Elementary Titles Bundle
High Interest Nonfiction – Elementary | 24 titles | $492.24
WSDLC November 2025 High Interest Nonfiction Elementary Titles Order Form: Reach out to the WSDLC Project Managers at wsdlc-info@wils.org
*Note: 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 any of these packages, you can submit your order through their linked Google Form order forms.
When completing the form(s), 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).
What are Advantage Bundle Carts?
If building up your school’s Advantage offerings in Sora is something that always gets set aside for another time, the WSDLC is here to try and make things easier. The WSDLC’s dedicated Digital Content Specialist Librarian at OverDrive, Beth Saxton, takes the time to identify the most popular, high-demand titles in the shared collection, and prepackages those titles into sets that WSDLC members can purchase for only their students, just by completing a quick Google form! No thinking about how to best leverage budgets, and no logging in to OverDrive Marketplace. Just a simple, straightforward way to reduce students’ wait times on the titles they want most.
→ Tip: Instead of purchasing these carts, some WSDLC members use these title lists as a handy guide when building their own carts.
If you have any questions on purchasing, please reach out to the OverDrive team at wsdlc@overdrive.com.
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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/.
