Weekly Message: January 10, 2023

Happy Tuesday! This week’s message includes the all-new titles that were added to the WSDLC collections last month, reminders on WSDLC’s Flipped Classroom training series; WEMTA’s Battle of the Books registration; and OverDrive’s School Stars marketing competition. We also squeezed in the answer to a FAQ: How to recommend a title for purchase.

New Titles Added in December

In December, 116 completely new titles were added to the shared collection! Of these titles:
  • 11 are new Audiobook titles, 89 are new Ebook titles, and 16 are brand new Magazine titles;
  • 45 of these titles were added to the Adult Collection, 20 were added to the Young Adult Collection, and 51 were added to the Juvenile Collection;
  • 30 are new titles in the Comics and Graphic Novels collection (which are all Simultaneous Use titles); and
  • Titles added covered 60 subject areas.
A complete list of all the new titles added in December 2022, along with their format and content access level(s), can be downloaded here (.xslx).
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Flipped Classrooms: Usage Statistics

January’s Flipped Classroom is Usage Statistics, where you will learn how to view your school’s and/or district’s usage statistics by utilizing Marketplace Insights. Insights is the area of your Marketplace account where you can run a variety of reports including, but certainly not limited to, the titles and formats that are getting checked out, what’s being purchased, how many holds are on titles, and how your students are interacting with Sora. You will also see how you can break down these reports to view usage at the consortium level, by only your school (Branch), or at the Advantage level.
 
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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FAQ: How can I request a title to be purchased for the WSDLC shared collection?

As you know, neither Sora nor Marketplace offer a space for users to request or recommend titles for purchase. To help fill this gap, 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. Titles that are submitted through this form are reviewed against the WSDLC Collection Policy by the WSDLC Project Managers. All titles that fall within the WSDLC’s Collection Policy, and are available for purchase through OverDrive Marketplace, are then added to the collection.
The Suggest a Title for the WSDLC form can be found in several places on the WSDLC website:
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Reminder: Battle of the Books Registration Closes on January 15th

Registration for 2023’s Battle of the Books, hosted by WEMTA, closes on Sunday, January 15th.
To help support students as they participate in WEMTA’s Battle of the Books, WSDLC Project Managers are purchasing additional ebook and audiobook copies of the titles on each reading list, and curated collections have been created for each division. You can find (and share!) the curated collections through the links below:
If you aren’t familiar with WEMTA’s Battle of the Books: BoB is an online trivia competition for students across Wisconsin. There are three divisions for students to compete in: Elementary (grades 4-6), Middle (grades 6-8), and Senior (grades 8+). Students can form teams of 2-4 people and, between them read from a list of 20 books. Starting in early February, students have the opportunity to participate in “practice battles”, and the official Battle of the Books runs the last full week of February.
You can learn more about WEMTA’s Battle of the Books on their webpage.
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OverDrive’s School Stars is Coming Soon!

It’s time to start thinking about how you and your school have marketed and/or utilized Sora so far this school year! OverDrive’s global contest, School Stars, celebrates the variety of ways schools promote Sora, and will be opening for submissions on February 6th! There are different categories to enter: bulletin boards, videos, social media posts, classroom engagement, and even an opportunity for your students to create something to submit!
If you’ve done any promotional work this school year (August 2022 – Time of entry), consider entering this contest! We find ourselves saying this often, but it always rings true: no accomplishment or action is too small to enter!
Learn more about School Stars here!
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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