Happy Tuesday and an even Happier New Year! Since many of you are still soaking up the remaining bits of break before jumping back in to the daily routines, we’re keeping this week’s message very short.
December’s Usage Statistics
Last month’s usage is neither surprising nor disappointing. As usual in December, the number of checkouts dropped, fewer students checked out materials, and hold wait times creeped upwards. But even though usage dipped, it dipped less than last year:
In 2022, there was a 26% drop in checkouts between November and December (140,258 checkouts in November, down to 103,478 checkouts in December). But in 2023, there was only an 18% drop in checkouts between November and December! (174,582 checkouts in November, down to only 143,768 checkouts in December.)
Even more impressive was the comparatively short dip in the number of students checking out titles between November and December. In 2022, there were 19% fewer students checking out titles between November and December (31,173 students with checkouts in November, and 25,260 students with checkouts in December). But in 2023, there were only 14% fewer students checking out titles between November and December! (39,469 students with checkouts in November, and 33,848 students with checkouts in December.)
2023 Year End Stats Preview
The final stats for the calendar year are still being compiled, but we’re very excited to share where numbers are landing for 2023!
Across the consortium, there were ~1,468,312 checkouts, a 14% increase over 2022 (which had 1,293,552 checkouts).
On top of that, Wisconsin students that have the WSDLC collections available to them spent 927,870 hours reading in Sora. (Since we gave you the 2022 comparison for total checkouts, the total time read in 2022 was [a still amazing] 836,164 hours.)
We’ll share out more of 2023’s impressive statistics later this month as the final lingering borrowed titles get returned and those checkouts counted.
We’re also eagerly watching the WSDLC Dashboard, waiting for the 5-Millionth(!) checkout to come through– we’ll be sure to share that when we hit that major benchmark, too!
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.
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Flipped Classrooms: Usage Statistics
With a new month comes a new Flipped Classroom! 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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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/.
