Happy Tuesday! And boy is it a day full of exciting opportunities! On top of the school year winding down, there are THREE virtual events going on this afternoon that will be of interest to WSDLC members, with details for each below. We’ve also included an answer to a FAQ (can students access Sora over the summer?), and a reminder on 2022-23 renewals.
This week’s message is also the penultimate message for the year- we’ll be sending out one more message next week as a wrap up before quieting down for the summer. You will still hear from us again about halfway through June as a touch-base, and as any important updates crop up. Then we’ll start up the weekly messaging again in late July as you prepare for another school year.
Today: The Annual WSDLC Membership Meeting!
There is still time for you to register for the Annual WSDLC Membership meeting!
This event is taking place this afternoon (Tuesday May 24th) at 3:30pm, and will last for about an hour. The full meeting will be recorded and shared out to all registrants, and a recording of the second half of the meeting (minus the guest speakers) will be shared publicly.
We’ll be starting off with Guest Speakers Jenny Kalvaitis and Kristen Whitson, co-authors of We Will Always Be Here: A Guide to Understanding LGBTQ+ Activism in Wisconsin, who will discuss the struggles and successes of LGBTQ+ history in Wisconsin, sharing strategies for resilience and moments of hope for a more just, inclusive future.
Following this exciting discussion, attending WSDLC members will be asked to review and vote on changes to the Operational Guidelines. You can view a draft of the updated Operational Guidelines here.
We’ll round off the meeting with an overview of what’s happened in the WSDLC in 2021, what’s coming for the rest of 2022, and a quick summary of responses from the Membership Survey that was sent out earlier this year.
This meeting is open to everyone, so please feel free to share this link with others in your school or district who might be interested in attending this special event!
You can find additional details on the annual meeting on the WSDLC website.
We hope to see you there!
Also Today:
OverDrive Webinar: Making the Most of Your OverDrive Advantage Account
Coming up on Tuesday May 24th at 1:00pm, OverDrive is hosting a webinar that we are excited to share with you all! Making the Most of Your OverDrive Advantage Account will provide an overview of what you can do with your Advantage account, and some tips and tricks on how you can best utilize it. Whether you’re a new member to the WSDLC, your school has a new staff member, or if you’ve been a part of the WSDLC for a while and would like a refresher, there will be something for you in this webinar.
Webinar Description
Register here: https://overdrive.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7eVnI9fETr-O_cxB3tyl0w
Another Not-to-Miss Event Today and Tomorrow:
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
FAQ: Will Students Be Able to Access WSDLC Collections/Sora Through The Summer?
We’ve had a few members ask recently if their students will still be able to access everything the WSDLC has to offer through the summer, and we are always so excited to give an exuberant YES!
The Sora collections are available year-round, and can be accessed just about anywhere and from any device that can connect to the internet: desktop computers to smartphones; dial-up to wifi; the local public library to grandma’s house; and everything in between!
If students are on the move and/or without a stable internet connection, as long as they have a few minutes of internet connection, they can download titles for offline reading or send a title to an ereader! Below are some how-to instructions and short videos from OverDrive on some ways students can access titles offline:
Video Walkthrough on Downloading Checked Out Titles
Not only can the materials be accessed all summer long, there are special summer-only collections available to help support summer reading! Sora Sweet Reads (OverDrive’s annual summer reading program) is a collection that is filled with simultaneous use titles for all reading levels, and is available through August 17th.
You can find out more about this program on the Sora Sweet Reads page.
You can view the collection in Sora through this [shareable!] link: https://soraapp.com/library/wsdlcwi/campaign-sora-sweet-reads/page-1
Reminder: 2022-23 WSDLC Membership Renewals & Quotes
Quotes for schools and districts to renew their WSDLC Membership for the 2022-23 school year have been sent out to everyone listed as their school’s WSDLC Main Contact. If you haven’t received yours, please let us know!
If your school is still making decisions on renewals for the upcoming school year, waiting on POs, and/or deciding on tweaks to make to your membership, that’s all great! We just ask that everyone let us know their plans for renewing before August 15th. Members that haven’t responded to the renewal form (linked in the email that contains the renewal quote) will be automatically renewed on September 1st.
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/.
