Weekly Message: August 15th, 2023

Happy August everyone!
We are gearing up and getting ready to start another great year of the WSDLC, and to help you all do the same, we’re beginning our [Re]Introduction to the WSDLC series! And what better topic to begin with than the function and uses of this very listserv.
In this week’s message, we’re also sharing usage stats from over the summer and a handful of reminders to prepare for the upcoming school year.
We hope you all had a lovely summer!

[Re]Introduction to the WSDLC: wsdlc-members Listserv Group

All WSDLC member “main contacts” are subscribed to the WSDLC Member Google Community/Listserv.
This listserv is used in a variety of ways:

  • WSDLC’s Weekly Messaging
    Every Tuesday during the school year (or rather, nearly every Tuesday), the WSDLC Project Managers send out a message to WSDLC members to keep you all up-to-date with what’s happening in the consortium: upcoming webinars, usage statistics, updates to OverDrive/Sora, events around the state, and so much more.
  • Updates, Announcements, and General Information
    Through this email list, WSDLC Project Managers also share exciting and important updates on happenings in the WSDLC. While announcements will always end up in the Weekly Message, sometimes an update warrants its very own message between the weekly newsletters. We’ll also send out messages separate from the Weekly Message to call for volunteers to serve on a WSDLC committee or the WSDLC Board; requests to complete surveys; a summary of WSDLC Board meetings; and updates to OverDrive, Sora, and/or the WSDLC Collections.
  • Connecting WSDLC Members to Each Other
    Any member of this group can also utilize this listserv for anything related to the WSDLC- use it to ask questions, crowdsource ideas, spread the word on interesting/relevant news, or share your successes and/or locally created WSDLC promotional materials. Compose your message and send it to wsdlc-members@wils.org; from there, you will reach the entire WSDLC Community.
    When sending to the listserv, here are some things to keep in mind:
    • Include direct, clear subject lines that reflect the conversation. Make it easy for people to know if they want to read your message. If the topic of conversation changes, the subject line should change, too.
    • Include a signature block. You know who you are, but others may not. Please include your name, library name, and contact information at the bottom of each list.
    • This is not a venue for commercial sales; please, no pitches for new products or sale announcements.
    • Be respectful. This is a positive, comfortable place for everyone.

Anyone designated as their school’s/district’s Main Contact is automatically added to the WSDLC-members group, but any staff member at your school can be a part of it too! Send a message to the WSDLC Project Managers at wsdlc-info@wils.org with the email address(es) to be added, and we’ll take it from there.

Next Week’s Message: [Re]Introduction to the WSDLC: Governance

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Summer Usage Statistics & 2022-23 School Year in Review

Every summer, the WSDLC collections see a dip in usage, and this summer is no different. In June and July, there were 53,794 checkouts; and while those numbers are lower than the rest of the year, they are improving over previous summers, where,

  • June/July 2022 had 52,212 checkouts,
  • June/July 2021 had 50,365 checkouts, and
  • June/July 2020 had 40,661 checkouts

Even though the number of titles being checked out is lower, we are seeing more and more students continuing to access the collections on their summer break than in previous summers:

  • June/July 2023: 11,434 students checked out at least one title.
  • June/July 2022: 11,335 students checked out at least one title.
  • June/July 2021: 11,299 students checked out at least one title.
  • June/July 2020: 5,396 students checked out at least one title.

You can view the full calendar year’s statistics, which includes detailed information on circulation numbers, holds, and other metrics, broken down by month, as a Google Sheet here.
If you’re interested in historical data, you can find .xlsx spreadsheets of past statistics at the bottom of the WSDLC Year to Date Statistics page.

Now that another school year has come and gone, we’re sharing a brief overview of some of the final numbers for the consortium from the 2022-23 school year (September 1 – May 31).

  • During the 2022-23 school year, from the 257 school districts that are WSDLC members, over 82,000 individual students checked out a title from Sora.
  • The total number of checkouts during the school year reached an astounding 1,225,929!
    On top of that, two milestones were reached last school year:

    • 3-millionth checkout occurred on September 29th, 2022
      And just eight months later…
    • 4-millionth checkout occurred on May 11th, 2023
  • The shared collections added over 61,000 additional copies of titles (in particular, popular titles with lots of holds and Battle of the Books titles) and over 4,000 completely new titles.

We can’t wait to see what’s in store for the 2023-24 school year!

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In Case You Missed It:

➢ Summer Technical Reminders From OverDrive
Recently, a message was sent out to all WSDLC members from OverDrive’s Amanda Izuka-Lawman. It’s filled with great reminders to help make sure Sora is ready for the new school year, and to make sure no one misses this great information, we’re resharing it here:

I hope you’re having a good summer break! Back to school is just around the corner and we want to help you get Sora ready the new school year.
✅ Important to tackle

    • Update your curated collections – Keep students engaged by highlighting new titles or mixing it up with the titles you already own.
    • Review your holds report – Keep wait times down by deleting old holds. You can manage holds individually or reach out to your OverDrive Team to clear holds by date range.
    • Review Marketplace accounts – Create Marketplace accounts for any new staff/admins and delete old accounts. Please make sure to inform your OverDrive Team of any major contact changes (e.g., new main contact, schools opening/closing, etc.).

? Good to do

⭐ When you have time

    • Meet with your OverDrive team– We’re here to support you, so don’t hesitate to schedule a call with us for any questions or to discuss goals and priorities for the school year!
    • Check out our training resources – Use these as a refresher or share with new staff who need training on Sora or Marketplace.

If you have any questions or would like assistance with any of the above, please let me know.

Thank you,
Amanda Izuka-Lawman, Product Support Specialist II
Education Product Support
Phone: +1 216-573-6886 x 1395
Fax: +1 216-573-6889

You can reach Amanda, and the entire WSDLC OverDrive team, at wsdlc@overdrive.com

➢ Now Available: New MARC Records

MARC records for new titles added to the shared WSDLC collection over the summer months are now available for download from the WSDLC website. These files contain all titles available in the WSDLC collection, and are divided by content access level.
*Note: If your district has filtered specific consortium titles from view of your students, you will need to remove those titles from your catalog individually once imported.

Once imported into the catalog, we cannot guarantee that they will not be visible to all users within the catalog. They will, however be filtered from student view in Sora via the content access levels applied at the time of log in.

If you have questions about the content access level settings for your school(s), please contact wsdlc@overdrive.com. If you have questions about title visibility in your catalog, please contact your catalog vendor.

➢ Coming Soon: More Magazines and Comics!

Beginning on September 1st, 2023, more Magazine titles and comics will be added in to the WSDLC collections! You can get a sneak peek at what’s coming here:

Comics*:
Juvenile / K-5 Collection Titles
Young Adult / 6-8 Collection Titles
Adult / 9-12 Collection Titles

Magazines:

Title Subject Language
Choosing Your Pets: selecting and keeping family friendly pets Home & Garden|Kids & Teens English
Going Places Culture & Literature|Travel & Outdoor English
Histórias da Peppa Pig Kids & Teens|Movies, TV & Music Portuguese
Minecraft Revista em Quadrinhos Comics & Manga|Tech & Gaming Portuguese
Ollie and Dakota’s Clubhouse Kids & Teens English
The Ultimate Guide to Pokémon – Ash & Pikachu Retire Tech & Gaming English
Agora Culture & Literature|News & Politics English
Bluey Magazine Family & Parenting, Movies, TV & Music English

*All titles are listed at their preassigned Content Access Levels. Prior to these titles going live, the WSDLC’s Digital Content Librarian will be assessing each title against the WSDLC’s Collection Development Policy, and will update Content Access Levels as appropriate.

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Reminder: WSDLC Renewal Decisions Due Soon

If you haven’t already let us know your school/district’s renewal decision for the 2023-24 membership year, please do so before August 15th. Earlier this week, the final renewal reminders were sent to schools that we haven’t gotten a response from yet; these emails include a price quote for the upcoming year (based on 2022-23 enrollment numbers reported in WISEdash), along with the link to the renewal form, which allows schools to let us know of any contact changes and will enable you to request adjustments to your school’s access.

Schools/Districts that have not let us know their renewal decision will be automatically renewed on September 1st.

If your school has requested changes to the grades/schools that are accessing collections and have been given a new OverDrive Agreement to sign, please make sure to get that back to us as soon as possible. OverDrive cannot make updates to your school’s access until the new agreement has been signed.

Invoices will be sent out in September unless a different date has been requested when completing the renewal form.

Just for fun, here are the numbers so far:

  • 237 out of 260 Districts have already committed to renewing for the 2023-24 membership year.
  • 5 Schools/Districts have expanded their access to include additional grades.
  • 11 New Districts are ready to begin their WSDLC membership on September 1st.
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WSDLC Training & Marketing Resources

As you start getting settled back into your classrooms and sorting out plans for the upcoming school year, we’d like to highlight some of the WSDLC’s and OverDrive’s Marketing and Training Resources:

If you have ideas for materials or resources you think would be helpful to include in any of these pages, or if you have materials that you think could be helpful to the WSDLC community, please let us know at wsdlc-info@wils.org, and we’ll get it added!

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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