WSDLC Board Nominations Close on Friday. Nominate Yourself or a Colleague!
Board membership is a vital part of the WSDLC, and we are asking all member representatives to please consider if you can participate. The Board member guidelines are simple, and we try to keep meetings and outside work to a minimum.
- Terms are three years (there are no term limits) and begin on September 1st.
- A total commitment of around 7 hours per year is expected.
- Meetings are held via Zoom, and there are 4-6 meetings per year.
- Information for meetings is shared beforehand via Basecamp to allow Board members to participate in discussions and decision-making effectively.
- Advocate for the project and participate in fundraising efforts, as the position allows.
- Oversee the monitoring and tracking of the WSDLC budget to ensure fidelity between the work conducted and the available funds.
- Monitor and track the contract with the project manager.
We are seeking nominations for Board Members from schools or districts in the following CESA areas: CESA 1, CESA 4, CESA 6, CESA 7, CESA 8, CESA 10, CESA 11, CESA 12. We have nominations from CESA 1, CESA 6, CESA 7, CESA 8, and CESA 10 (Thank you so much!); lets keep those nominations coming, especially for CESAs 4, 11, and 12!
There are only two qualifications to be considered for nomination:
- The nominee’s school must be a WSDLC Member, and
- The nominee must be the district’s Member Representative.
Member Representatives can be anyone at your district: a library media specialist, curriculum expert, technology consultant, or an administrator. The Member Representative can be reappointed at any time; just send an email to wsdlc-info@wils.org to have your district’s Member Representative confirmed or updated. Along with being able to run for the WSDLC Board, the Member Representative is the only person from a district that is eligible to vote in the Board election.
Please consider nominating yourself or a colleague (with their permission) by completing this brief nominations form by the end of the day on Friday, April 15th!
Voting will open on Monday, April 18th, and runs through May 6th.
Please email wdlc-info@wils.org with any questions.
We appreciate your consideration!
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March’s Usage Statistics + New Titles Added
March 2022’s use continues to show the collections are going strong: There were over 130,000 total checkouts last month, and the number of holds on titles has dropped since the beginning of the year: By the end of January there were 11,527 holds on ebook and audiobook titles, and by the end of March holds have dropped down to 7,443. Even more exciting, the total time read last month was nearly 87,100 hours! Compared to March 2021’s 84,900 hours, this is a HUGE jump in reading hours, and one that we love to see!
*Do you love this chart? We do, too! You can get these stats and more by heading to the Sora Activity page in Marketplace. You can even see this data for your school alone: When on the Sora Activity page, just click the Filter Activity button then select your school(s) from the Branch field.
You can download the full calendar year’s statistics .xlsx spreadsheet, which includes detailed information on circulation numbers, holds, and other metrics, broken down by month, at the bottom of the WSDLC Year to Date Statistics page.
Also in March, there were 715 completely new titles added to the collection! Many of these new titles came as a part of the newly-added simultaneous use Comics & Graphic Novel Collection, but there are a number of other new and popular titles too.
Click here to download a .xlsx file of the complete list of all of the new titles added in March 2022, along with their format and content access level(s).
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Flipped Classroom: Marketing & Training
This is our final month of the WSDLC’s Flipped Classroom training program, and it focuses on Marketing and Training! We know this is a hot topic for many of you, and we hope that the ideas and resources we’ve pulled together here can work as a jumping point to implement your own marketing strategies. Included are:
- Lists of marketing techniques and actions from other WSDLC members and from the OverDrive team;
- Links to the OverDrive blog’s school library marketing spotlight and previous School Stars winners;
- Downloadable/Printable flyers, bookmarks, social media images, a coloring page, and so much more that are free to use; and
- Training Modules from OverDrive that you can send to your students and teachers!
And speaking of marketing, did you know that there is an open document where WSDLC members can share their marketing and promotion ideas? You can find that document here! Contributions are always being made (there was even a new one in the last couple of weeks!), so check back often, and feel free to add your own marketing wins.
New to Flipped Classrooms? During our Flipped Classroom months, materials on various topics are available for members to review, and OverDrive staff is ready to schedule one-on-one 20-minute sessions to answer your questions.
Please let us know if you have any questions or comments on the flipped classroom content; we’d love to hear what you’re thinking!
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Item of Interest: Free Online Event in May:
Indigenous Voices: Authentic Children’s Literature in the Classroom and Library
The San Diego, CA County Office of Education is hosting a free online event on May 24th and 25th: Indigenous Voices: Authentic Children’s Literature in the Classroom & Library.
From the event page:
“Native authors scheduled to speak include Cynthia Leitich Smith, Angeline Boulley, Traci Sorell, Christine Day, Brian Young, David Robertson, and Michaela Goade, among others.”
You can find more details on the event and register to attend here: https://sdcoe.k12oms.org/900-215459
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Updates from OverDrive
What’s returning: AudioFile SYNC and Sora Sweet Reads
- AudioFile SYNC
- AudioFile is again offering SYNC Audiobooks for Teens, a free summer audiobook program for students aged 13+
- Users can register at the AudioFile SYNC website with an email address. Once registered, SYNC will send a confirmation email with instructions to add the SYNC library in Sora and borrow their
- two free weekly audiobooks
- Learn more by attending this webinar April 26th at 1pm CST: https://overdrive.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vHLErViiQOqHjajQsl8hnA
- Sora Sweet Reads
- Join us this summer with OverDrive’s annual reading program. Sora Sweet Reads is designed to encourage students to keep reading all year long
- We’re offering a collection of free and simultaneous use juvenile and young adult ebooks (and select audiobooks). These titles will be available to participating schools and prominently displayed in Sora so it’s easy for students to find their next sweet read
- Learn more here: https://resources.overdrive.com/sora-sweet-reads/
Looking for more ways to reduce the summer slide? In addition to participating in AudioFile SYNC and Sora Sweet Reads, try:
- Create a curation in Sora of ebook/audiobook versions of your summer reading list!
- Offer a variety of content: ebooks, comics, manga, audiobooks, magazines, etc
- Set up a Sora Showcase display in your library or other school common areas for students to browse prior to summer break
Friendly Reminder: Have extra library budget you’re not sure what to do with? Do you need to use it or lose it? OverDrive’s content credit never expires! Consider depositing your extra funds into your Marketplace account to provide more access to digital content for your students.
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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/.
