Weekly Message: September 12th, 2023

Happy Tuesday! This week we’re rounding off our [Re]Introduction to the WSDLC series with an introduction to the WSDLC Project Management and OverDrive teams! We’re also sharing a list of all of the new titles that were added in to the shared collections in August, as well as this month’s Flipped Classroom. And finally, we’re rounding off this week’s message with details about Read an Ebook Day, coming up next Monday!
Have a lovely week, everyone!

[Re]Introduction to the WSDLC: Meet the Team!

WSDLC Project Managers

The WSDLC Project Managers are staff from WiLS that support the WSDLC through: membership support (enrollments, renewals, invoicing), fiscal agency, governance support, meeting management, shared collection planning, training, marketing and communications, research and resources (in particular for Collection Support and Intellectual Freedom), and building relationships and acting as a liaison with peer organizations and vendors.

     
Sara Gold
Project Manager		 Jennifer Chamberlain
Project Manager		   Rebecca Rosenstiel
Project Assistant		   Lisa Marten
Financial Coordinator

You can reach the whole team by emailing wsdlc-info@wils.org.
Topics that the WSDLC Project Managers can best help with:

  • Enrollment, Renewals, and WSDLC Membership Invoices
  • Materials in the Collection, Selection, Etc
  • Consortium-Wide Statistics
  • Questions/Comments on Governance
  • Marketing Materials
  • Anything else WSDLC-related! If we can’t answer your question, we’ll get you to the person who can.

OverDrive Partners

The WSDLC has an amazing group of dedicated staff from OverDrive to help support WSDLC members in their usage of Sora. They help get schools the access they want and need; give detailed and tailored trainings and walkthroughs on how schools can get the most out of Sora; curate the collections and make sure titles are leveled appropriately; help with Advantage invoicing and purchasing (content credit); provide the technical support schools need; and so much more. They work hard to make Sora the best that it can be, listen to the consortium’s needs, and have the WSDLC’s best interests in mind.

      
Connie Bowman
Account Manager		   Amanda Izuka-Lawman
Product Support Specialist		   Beth Saxton
Digital Content Librarian

You can reach the whole OverDrive team by emailing wsdlc@overdrive.com.
Topics that the WSDLC OverDrive team can best help with:

  • Sora Support
  • Updating Student Content Access Levels
  • Usage Statistics for your Individual District
  • Adding Funds to your Advantage Account
  • Assistance in advocating for Sora for your District
  • Setting Up Customized Training Sessions
  • Authentication/Access Issues
  • MARC Records
  • Does my Catalog Integrate with Sora?

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Flipped Classroom: Getting Started

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 on their own and OverDrive staff are ready to schedule one-on-one 20-minute sessions to answer members’ questions. This month’s theme is Getting Started!

How can students checkout titles in Sora? Can I listen to an audiobook offline? How can I find a book in OverDrive Marketplace to purchase for my school’s Advantage account? What are each of the different lending models? You can find answers to these questions and more in this month’s Flipped Classroom: Getting Started.
Click the link or copy and paste it into your browser to get started with Getting Started: https://wsdlc.org/getting-started-with-flipped-classrooms/

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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In the Community: Read an Ebook Day is September 18th!

Next week Monday, September 18th, is Read an Ebook Day! Read an Ebook Day is a chance for readers across the globe to slow down, take a moment wherever they are, and, well, read an ebook. And for the 400,000+ Wisconsin students with access to Sora, there are thousands of ebook (and read-along and audiobook) titles to choose from! From comics to romance novels, Pete the Cat to Percy Jackson, horror novels to collections of short stories, there is sure to be something to interest everyone.

And to help celebrate (and market to your students) Read an Ebook Day, the OverDrive Resource Center has a ready-to-use graphic that schools can download and utilize to spread the word! You can find that graphic and many other marketing resources here.

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New Titles Added in August

Last month, 449 completely new titles were added in to the WSDLC shared collections!
Of these titles:

A complete list of all the new titles added in August, along with their format and content access level(s), can be viewed as a Google Sheet 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