Last week was OverDrive’s biennial global conference Digipalooza. There were 51 sessions, including a keynote from the 14th Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden, lots of useful tips and information on data-driven decisions and best-practices, and a session that was cohosted by a Director of Library Services from a school district right here in Wisconsin!

Some of the key takeaways include:

• Upcoming Sora updates:
  • The Sora App will be getting a refresh, along with increased accessibility options, like updated screen reader support, high contrast/dark mode, and dyslexic font mode.
  • Up to 10,000 Collections can now be loaded at a time, and collections can have as few as 1 title included (currently, collections can have a minimum of 7 titles.)
  • Users can now borrow directly from a wishlist
  • Samples now include a “borrow” button so students can continue reading
  • Achievements are indicated in the Title Details
  • Holds can be placed on the same title at different libraries (if their account is linked to other libraries, such as a public library)
  • Improvements on settings, preferences, and filters
  • Students will be able to set their own default checkout period
  • Displaying unowned content, allowing students to express interest in titles not currently in the collection, and notifications when requested books are purchased/available
  • Error messages with self-serve support
  • Easier way for students to contact OD support
  • Adding more highlighting colors (each of which meet accessibility standards)
  • Screen reader-accessible exported PDFs
  • Ability to add reactions/emojis as notes inside ebooks
• Multiple presenters have reported that even after their schools returned to in-person learning, the digital reading trend has continued to increase!
• Outreach- Tips on how to reach K12 readers:
  1. Meet your readers in their space: social media
     eg: it might seem scary or intimidating, but try using Instagram, Twitter, & TikTok
  2. If you are engaged, your students will be, too
     eg: instead of teachers assigning a class read, the students get to vote on what their class read will be
  3. Displays are the way
     eg: cards with QR codes placed on the shelf where [popular] books are shelved. “[TITLE] not here? Scan the QR Code to view on Sora”
     eg: curated collections of tough topics
  4. Trust the kids
     eg: they know what they want to read, and what works best for them (physical books, ebooks, audiobooks)
     eg: let students help in engagement and outreach
• OverDrive’s free resources to learn more about using your school’s share of funds to help your students read more: https://company.overdrive.com/k-12-schools/discover-sora/esf/
• One school has a collection of titles recommended from their school’s superintendent; this has been a major help in engaging use by teachers and showing the collection’s value to the school board and parents.

WSDLC project managers are very excited to see how these ideas and tips can be used to help support WSDLC collections and members!