This week’s message includes information about:
- The 2026 WSDLC Annual Membership Meeting, with Guest Author Joseph Sieracki – find out more, and register to attend!
- An answer to the question “Why does the WSDLC renewal period open in March when it’s due in September?”
- April’s Usage Statistics + 10,000,000 Lifetime Checkouts!
- The new titles added to the shared collection in April
- The 2026 Reach More Readers Challenge has begun – learn more and find ways to engage your students before Summer begins!
- Updates from OverDrive: 2025 Sora Annual Report & Sora Sweet Reads
Register for the 2026 WSDLC Annual Meeting, with Guest Author Joseph Sieracki!
Join us for the Annual WSDLC Membership Meeting on Tuesday, May 19th from 3:30pm-4:30pm via Zoom!
Hear from graphic novel author Joseph Sieracki as he shares his works, his writing process, and answers your questions about what it’s like to be a graphic novel author. The WSDLC Project Managers will wrap up the meeting with a short review of what happened in 2025-26 and a look ahead of what’s coming up for 2026-27.
Guest Author Bio:
Joseph Sieracki is the writer of A LETTER TO JO from TOP SHELF, GHOSTS OF SCIENCE PAST by HUMANOIDS, with work on series like TERRORBYTES and SPEED RACER at MAD CAVE, plus additional creator-owned titles.
Reach out to the WSDLC Project Managers at wsdlc-info@wils.org for the 2026 WSDLC Membership Meeting Zoom registration link.
This meeting will be recorded and shared with registrants.
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April’s Usage Statistics + 10,000,000 Lifetime Checkouts!
Looking at April’s Sora usage across the consortium:
- 36,801 Audiobooks were checked out,
- 215,357 Ebooks were checked out, and
- 10,785 Magazines were checked out,
all adding up to a monthly total of 262,943 titles read, by 49,313 individual students across the state.
New Accomplishment Reached: 10 Million Lifetime Checkouts!
At 2:56pm on Tuesday, April 28th, the WSDLC collections reached that next big milestone- 10,000,000 lifetime checkouts!
The title that holds the honor of being the 10 millionth checkout is *drumroll* Refugee by Alan Gratz!
- WSDLC’s newly updated Training Resources page | Reports section,
- WSDLC’s Flipped Classroom: Usage Statistics,
- OverDrive Resource Center’s training videos, and/or
- OverDrive’s self-paced View Sora Activity training module
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WSDLC’s Reach More Readers Challenge is On Now!
The 5th Annual Reach More Readers Challenge is happening now- make sure your students are logging into Sora and checking out titles, and maybe your school can take home the glory!
What is the Reach More Readers Challenge?
In 2022, the WSDLC and OverDrive began hosting a competition between all WSDLC member schools to encourage students to check out a title in Sora during the month of May, increasing their awareness of this resource before summer break begins.
WSDLC member school staff get their students to log in to Sora and check out a title during the month of May. WSDLC Project Managers and the WSDLC Sora/OverDrive team compare the number of individual students that checked out titles in March 2026 to the number in May 2026. The school district(s) that have seen the greatest increase in the number of students checking out materials in Sora between these two months will be declared the winner, and even score some fabulous prizes!
How Can My School/District Participate?
Every school that joined the WSDLC before March 1st, 2026 is automatically entered into this competition.
What you need to do is spread the word to your students to have them log in to Sora and check out [at least] one title!
Go to the Reach More Readers Challenge page for more information and links to marketing materials, ideas, and shareable QR Codes for curated collections!
So get ahead of the summer slide and increase awareness of the WSDLC collections by encouraging your students to participate in a friendly competition with other schools across the state!
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New Titles Added in April
Last month, 1,496 completely new titles were added into the shared collection!
- 41 Audiobooks: 1 Lower Elementary; 7 Upper Elementary; 4 Middle School, 25 Lower High School; and 4 Upper High School
- 1,452 Ebooks: 41 Lower Elementary; 34 Upper Elementary; 298 Middle School; 1,071 Lower High School; and 8 Upper High School
- 2 Magazines: 1 Lower Elementary; and 1 Middle School
Of these new titles, there are:
- ~819 new Graphic Novels, in addition to a set of titles that are a part of the newly-subscribed to All Access Kids: Building Blocks Library – ALL COLLECTIONS collection
About the All Access Kids: Building Blocks Library – ALL COLLECTIONS collection: “Support literacy journeys and pleasure reading with the complete Building Blocks Library collections in one package: Emotional Wellness, Graphic Nonfiction, Animals & Nature, STEM and Beginning Readers.” - 37 subject areas, the top five being: Juvenile Nonfiction (795), Nature (425), Science (404), Reference (130), and Technology (102)
- 10 lending models: 819 Subscription, 434 MA (52 checkouts or 24mo/OU), 107 OC/OU, 60 MA (12mo/OU), 23 MA (30checkouts or 60 mo/OU), 21 MA (24 checkouts/OU), 17 MA (26 checkouts/OU), 14 CPC, 3 MA (100 checkouts/CU), and 1 MA (12mo/OU)
*Learn more about OverDrive’s Lending Models with the WSDLC’s newly updated Training Resources page | Purchasing section
View the full title list (with format and CAL) as a Google Sheet here.
(This Google Sheet also includes the new titles added each month, so if you ever miss a month, we’ve got you covered!)
You can find more information, including the Collection Development policy and a Statement on the WSDLC Collections, on the Collection Information and Circulation Policies page on the WSDLC website.
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From OverDrive: Sora Annual Report & Sora Sweet Reads Begins Soon!
Sora Annual Report
Sora Sweet Reads Begins Soon!
- America 250: Explore stories, people, and moments that shaped the United States.
- Unearth a Story: Stories inspired by the discovery and exploration of the natural and ancient world.
- Comics & Graphic Novels: Bold stories told through art and powerful visuals.
- Curiosity Lab: Spark curiosity with STEM through discovery-driven stories.
- Everyday Adventures: Casual reads about friendship, family, and more.
- High-Energy Summer: Perfect picks for readers who want nonstop fun.
- Sleuths, Scares, & Puzzles: Mysteries to solve, secrets to uncover, and chilling campfire tales.
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FAQ: Why does the WSDLC renewal period open in March when it’s due in September?
A question we’ve received recently asks us why the WSDLC Membership renewal period is open for such a long stretch of time, and the answer is simple: WSDLC Project Managers keep the renewal period flexible to accommodate the varying needs of Wisconsin school districts.
School districts across the state have different budget timelines that they are working within, and so we get pricing information out as soon as we have what we need to calculate it. And since there are WSDLC member districts that like (or even need) to submit budget- or to be invoiced- as early as March/April for their next-year’s membership, we open the renewal period right away. Other schools need extra time to decide what their next year will look like and prefer to be invoiced in the Fall, after the school/membership year has begun, so we keep the renewal period open right up to that last moment for these members.
Keeping the WSDLC Membership renewal period open for ~5 months allows school library staff to approve their renewal on their timeline, providing flexibility and time to consider any updates they might like to make to their membership.
You can learn more about WSDLC Membership renewals on the Renewing Your WSDLC Membership page on the WSDLC website.
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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/.
