Weekly Message: August 16th, 2022

Happy Tuesday! It’s a new week, and we have a heaping helping of information ready for you! As we mentioned in last week’s message, over the next few weeks we’ll be highlighting brief (re)introductions to the makeup of the WSDLC. This week we’ll be covering the collection: where the funding comes from, how titles are chosen for purchase, and which collection/access level a title is placed in.

[Re]Introduction to the WSDLC: Collection

The WSDLC collections in Sora contain over 15,000 individual titles (nearly 13,000 ebooks; over 2,300 audiobooks; and 75 magazine titles), and over 65,000 copies. All titles fall into one of three different collections/access levels:
    • K-5 Collection. Also referred to as the Juvenile collection. This has content that has been rated for grades K-5.
    • 6-8 Collection. Also referred to as the Young Adult collection. This has content that has been rated for grades 6-8. Students approved for access to the YA collection and will also have access to the Juvenile collection.
    • 9-12 Collection. Also referred to as the Adult collection. This has content that has been rated for grades 9-12. Students approved for access to the Adult collection will also have access to the Juvenile and YA collections.
Titles are placed in one of these three collections/access levels based on publishers’ metadata, and adjusted further (as needed) based on professional review sources such as School Library Journal, Kirkus, and CCBC Choices.
Students at member schools can view and check out any title that falls within their assigned content access level(s). (In other words, students that are given access to only the Juvenile collection will only be able to view and check out the titles that fall within that collection; they will not be able to view or check out titles from the YA or Adult collections.) Titles that are owned by the consortium are available to all students/schools at the title’s assigned collection/content access level, and cannot be suppressed or hidden by an individual school/district.

 

Selection & Purchasing
The cost of membership to the WSDLC for the 2022-23 year is $1.60/student. Of that cost, $1.35/student is used to purchase content for the consortium’s collections.
The WSDLC shared collections are curated by an OverDrive Content Specialist who selects new content for the consortium to consider for purchases on a weekly basis, based on the review sources mentioned above and while closely following the WSDLC Collection Development Policy. The WSDLC Project Manager reviews these selections, determines the quantity of each title to order, and purchases additional copies of titles to fill holds to enhance the collections (like Battle of the Books titles), and purchases award winning titles and titles that have been recommended for purchase.
Schools also have the option to purchase additional content that is available for only their school(s) that show up alongside the shared collection’s offerings in Sora for seamless access for students. This purchasing is done through a school’s Advantage Account in Marketplace, where schools have the option to be invoiced for purchases or to create a “deposit account” (referred to as Content Credit).
You can find more about Advantage purchasing in OverDrive’s self-guided module Marketplace: Browsing, Building Carts, and Purchasing Titles.

 

Recommend a Title
The WSDLC website includes a form that library media specialists, educators, and others at participating schools and districts can fill out to suggest a title for purchase for the shared collection. Suggestions submitted through this form are collected by the WSDLC Project Managers and then reviewed against the WSDLC Selection Policy (Section C of the Collection Policy). If the suggested title matches this policy, and is available for purchase through OverDrive Marketplace, the title will be added to the collection.

 

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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Updates and News from OverDrive

➢ The Back to School Sale Is On!
OverDrive’s Back to School Sale began on August 15th, including thousands of 25-50% off titles! Sale titles include popular new releases, curriculum titles, audiobooks and read-alongs, graphic novels and more. Log in to Marketplace and browse the Back to School sale here.
➢ Upcoming Webinars and Training Events
OverDrive has many opportunities for training sessions, webinars, and other events scheduled for August that we want to make sure you don’t miss!
*Note: These webinars and events are not WSDLC-specific. Some functions or features covered might not necessarily be available to WSDLC member schools.
      • Sora Essentials: Fall 2022
        Details:         Ready to learn the basics of Sora so you can start exploring and help others get started, too? Learn how to sign in with your school credentials, borrow ebooks & audiobooks, customize your reading experience, and more. We’ll share the top 5 ways Sora serves students, and tips to get your entire school community started with Sora. Join us live to ask questions of our K-12 experts and walk away with confidence using Sora.
        All attendees will receive a comprehensive resource to review, explore, and promote Sora after the session. Earn a certificate of attendance with our post-webinar assessment.

        Notes:         This session will be recorded.

        Dates/Times: August 17th @ 8:00am | August 18th @ 11:00am  |  August 19th @ 3:00pm  | Plus daily the week of August 22nd-26th, and more dates available in September; click the Registration link below to see them all.

        Register for Sora Essentials: Fall 2022 Here

      • Marketplace Essentials: Fall 2022
        Details: Ready to learn the basics of Marketplace, the shopping and administrative portal? Join us to explore how digital content and digital libraries work, including the difference between shared & Advantage collections. We’ll show you how to get started with Marketplace, including how to navigate the website, how to browse the digital catalog, and how to purchase titles. Join us live to ask questions of our K-12 experts and walk away with a better understanding of digital content and how Marketplace’s features can benefit you and your students. All attendees will receive a comprehensive resource to review and explore Marketplace basics after the session. Earn a certificate of attendance with our post-webinar assessment.

        Notes:         This session will be recorded.

        Dates/Times: August 24th @ 8:00am | September 2nd @ 8:00am  | Plus more dates/times throughout September and in to October.

        Register for Marketplace Essentials: Fall 2022 Here

And remember: the WSDLC’s Account Executive Connie Bowman (cbowman@overdrive.com) and Account Manager Lena Richardson (lrichardson@overdrive.com) are available to answer your questions and help you make the most of your Sora collections. You can even use the links below to schedule a time to talk with either of them that works best for you!
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Member Idea Exchange: How Do You Prepare For The New School Year?

The new school year is about to begin, and it’s time to put all of those plans, ideas, and time-tested workflows [back] in to action. For a little inspiration for the WSDLC collections and Sora, here is a small list of New School Year Preparation Ideas:
  • Check out your usage statistics from the summer on the Sora activity page in Marketplace to help guide the new school year. You can even filter activity by date to look at your stats from Septembers-past, or filter by branch to compare by school.
  • Prepare for the return of students by updating your curated lists to include new releases, or themed reading
  • Plan to promote reading using OverDrive’s free promotional materials
  • Utilize OverDrive’s Sora Back-to-School Checklist from one of their recent blog posts
But we also want to hear from all of you! What kinds of things do YOU do to prepare for the new school year? Do you have a template message that gets included in your school’s newsletter? Have you been scheduling visits to classrooms to show off the WSDLC collections and provide a walkthrough of Sora? Are you enjoying the warmth of freshly-printed flyers, table tents, and bookmarks? Or maybe you’ve spent some time recently shopping for Advantage titles and creating curated lists of reading?
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Don’t Forget: Your WSDLC Membership Includes Magazines!

On top of ebooks, comic books, and audiobooks that your students love, your WSDLC membership also includes access to many popular magazines! The WSDLC collections includes National Geographic Kids and National Geographic Little Kids, MiniMag, Minecraft World Magazine, It GiRL, Rolling Stone, and so many more! Attached to this email is the complete listing of all 75 magazine titles that are currently available in Sora.
OverDrive is also always working with publishers to acquire the rights to host more magazines. In fact, the magazine collection has grown by 15 titles since they first came available last October! If you’re in a position where you need to make the difficult decision to trim your budget, take a peek at what’s available with your WSDLC membership; you may find some resources here that could replace other subscriptions.
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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