Happy Tuesday! It’s the second Tuesday of November, which means we’re sharing with you the list of all the new titles that were added to the shared collection last month (and it’s massive). We also have sharable links to the curated collections that are created at the consortium level, along with some reminders on topics that we want to make sure no one misses.
New Titles Added in October
In October, a whopping 736 completely new titles were added to the WSDLC shared collections! We hinted to these additions in one of these messages a couple of weeks ago, but now we have some solid numbers to share with you. Last month, the new titles that were added included:
- 48 completely new audiobooks, and
- 688 completely new ebooks.
Of these new ebooks:- 37 titles are English/Spanish dual reader ebooks, and
- 113 titles are Spanish ebooks
A .xslx file containing the complete list of all the new titles added in October 2022, along with their format and content access level(s), WSDLC 2022-10 New Titles Added.
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New Curated Lists in Sora
With such an assortment of new titles added to the collections last month, you can bet that the consortium now has some new curated collections for students to discover them!
The WSDLC’s OverDrive Content Specialist, Beth Saxton, has created some new curated collections in Sora, showcasing many of these newly purchased titles, particularly those that fit in the identified collection development areas we mentioned a couple of weeks ago.
On top of that, we have links to each of these curations ready to share with you all. In turn, you can take these links and share them with your students as well– add them to your school’s digital newsletter, include them on your school’s website, or create a QR code that you can print out and display in your library or school hallways!
Newly Curated Collections (based on Collection Development areas)
| Spanish Books for Elementary School | Spanish Book for Middle School | Spanish Books for High School | |
| Wisconsin First Nations Book List | This is My Story Memoirs |
Historical Fiction Journey through time |
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| Learn Something New New Non-Fiction |
Read Along With Me Read Alongs |
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| New eBook additions | New Audiobook Additions |
We’re also including links to the rest of the WSDLC curated collections that you can share with your students. These curations focus on themes, upcoming events, and popularity of titles/formats, such as collections for National Native American Heritage Month; WEMTA’s Battle of the Books titles; the Magazines, Comics, and Graphic Novels; and so much more!
Additional Curated Collections
| National Native American Heritage Month Celebrate the rich histories, diverse cultures, and important contributions of Native Americans in November |
Gobble Up a Good Book Thanksgiving and Thankfulness |
Yum! Food and Cookin |
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| It’s Your Lucky Day! Great books, no wait! |
Literature for Older Readers Classics and Beyond |
Most Popular | |
| WI Battle of the Books Elem ’23 |
WI Battle of the Books Middle ’23 |
WI Battle of the Books Senior ’23 |
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| Comics in Sora! Check out All Access Comics that are always available! |
Magazines | Great Graphic Novels | |
| Page to Stream Books to Movies and TV |
Are You Scared? Horror and spooky reads |
Cool Story Bro Guys’ favorites |
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Flipped Classrooms: Advantage Accounts & Marketplace
November is Advantage Accounts & Marketplace month for the WSDLC’s Flipped Classroom training series! This flipped classroom introduces the Advantage program and shows how users how they can use Marketplace to make the most of their Advantage accounts.
What are the WSDLC’s Flipped Classrooms?
The WSDLC offers a self-paced training series to help new members get oriented (and as a refresher for returning members) with their membership and the Sora collections. Every month, a different topic and set of materials are highlighted to help guide members throughout the school year. The content of these Flipped Classrooms is intended for Library Media Specialists and anyone else that may help to manage school/district library resources, OverDrive Advantage purchasing, and digital classroom materials. Materials are available for members to review independently, and OverDrive staff are ready to schedule one-on-one 20-minute sessions to answer members’ questions.
You can find more information on WSDLC Training opportunities and materials here: https://wsdlc.org/training/
Find the full calendar of self-paced training topics here: https://wsdlc.org/training/wsdlc-training-schedule/
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Tiny Case Studies: Graphic Novel Genre Study During Schoolwide Literacy Period
We have another Tiny Case Study to share with you all this month: Graphic Novel Genre Study During Schoolwide Literacy Period, submitted by WSDLC Board Member, Stephanie Judge!
Description: “The Sauk Prairie Middle School has a 35 minute period each day called Schoolwide Literacy. We drop everything and each teacher reads to class for 20 minutes and then students read to self for 15 minutes. In January, we establish genre groups and students select their preferred genre focus. As I teacher, I selected to lead the graphic novel genre group. The problem: How do you display a graphic novel and read it out loud to 20-25 students at the same time?”
What Are Tiny Case Studies?
WSDLC’s Tiny Case Studies are brief, practical summaries of outstanding things that some WSDLC members are doing that involve Sora and serve as an opportunity for members to share a WSDLC-related problem they had and how they solved it.
If you’ve done something lately that you’d like to share with the WSDLC Community, let us know! Maybe you’ve put together some creative marketing, started a student reading book club, engaged your school’s teachers on how they can utilize these resources in their classroom, or made a successful case for funding. No idea or accomplishment is too small! You can submit your tiny case study idea by email at wsdlc-info@wils.org or complete the idea form, and we will reach out to you with the next steps!
You can view all of the WSDLC’s Tiny Case Studies here.
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In Case You Missed It: Reminders from WSDLC Project Managers
➢ WSDLC Annual Membership Meeting: Topic Suggestions
Planning for the 2023 Annual Member Meeting has begun! Every year, the WSDLC hosts an annual meeting to get feedback from members, highlight the achievements and updates, and share what changes and updates may be coming soon. This meeting kicks off with a guest speaker or a panel of participants, all centered around a certain theme.
We want to hear from the WSDLC members on what topics or themes you would be most interested in hearing about at this next meeting. You can share your thoughts and ideas in this Padlet: WSDLC Annual Membership Meeting Topic Suggestions
Note about using Padlet: Padlet is completely free to use, and you do not need to create an account to submit your ideas or to comment on / show your support for others’ ideas.
If you have an idea but want to use something other than Padlet, go ahead and email us your idea at wsdlc-info@wils.org.
➢ Classic OverDrive Site/App Ending Soon; Redirect Links Already Live
On December 1st, 2022, the classic OverDrive website and App will no longer be available. Since November 1st, the WSDLC’s classic OverDrive website (https://wsdlc.lib.overdrive.com) has been redirecting to soraapp.com, and so far no one has noted any issues with this change. (Yay!)
The tools you need to support students and staff through this change are available in the K-12 Resource Center, including:
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- Promotional materials like social media graphics, print-ready posters and bookmarks, customizable templates, and more.
- A suite of Sora how-to videos and self-paced learning modules.
- On-demand webinars on special topics like vocabulary strategies, using magazines, comics, and graphic novels in the classroom, and more.
➢ Checkout Limits Have Increased
Starting on November 1st, the checkout limits in Sora have increased for all students!
Checkout Limit per User: 5 titles (updated from 3 titles per user)
Hold Limit per User: 5 titles (updated from 3 titles per user)
Lending Period: The default lending period will remain at 14 days, with an option for users to select 7 days, 14 days, or 21 days for ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines in their user account settings. View a PDF Step-by-Step Process Here.
(Note on Lending Periods: It is not possible to select different loan periods by collection type, i.e. K-5 collection; 6-8 collection; 9-12 collection.)
Many thank yous to the Selection Advisory Committee for this recommendation and to the Board for its approval!
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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 80+ 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 over 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 fill the place of other, pricier 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/.
