WSDLC History

In 2014, WiLS was hired by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to assist with an investigation into statewide or regional ebook consortia in Wisconsin. Nancy Anderson, DPI Education Consultant, had built a workgroup that had been discussing the topic, and WiLS was hired to help further develop the project.

The 2014/15 project culminated in the Report of a process to explore the school ebook landscape that was developed from a survey of library media specialists to learn more about their perceptions and needs, a survey of vendors to gain a better understanding of the marketplace, and an investigation into what other states were doing in this area. The report included a list of key elements for a multi-district or statewide project and encouraged the development of a strong consortium structure as the means to provide a multi-district or statewide ebook project in Wisconsin.

In 2016, WiLS again partnered with DPI and with CESA Purchasing to continue the move toward a school ebook consortium in the state. We convened a “Think Tank” of school media specialists, curriculum and technology specialists, a school business official, and representatives from CESA Purchasing, the CESA Statewide Network, and DPI to discuss a draft structure of the elements needed for a consortium and to begin development of a structure to support the consortium. The participants reviewed the report and other background information including Examples of K12 Digital Consortia and Information about the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium, a public library ebook consortium in Wisconsin.

The draft structure was presented at WEMTA 2016, and we solicited feedback from school media specialists, curriculum specialists, and other practitioners about the proposed structure. The proposed structure was revised based on this feedback and a final structure was presented to DPI in May 2016.

The Interim Board created foundational elements and released an RFP to find a vendor or vendors to provide the opening day collection. OverDrive was selected to provide this collection. 

The collection went live in January 2018. The collection was divided into three collections of ebooks by grades: K-4, 5-8 and 9-12. A permanent Board represented by all one CESA, four at-large members and representatives from each partner organization was added in August 2018.

Audiobooks were added in early 2019, and a selection committee was added later that year.

In 2020, the collection was still divided into three collections, but they had been adjusted slightly to K-5, 6-8, and 9-12.

In 2024, OverDrive updated their systems to allow the highly-anticipated addition of two more collections plus a relabeling: a Lower Elementary (PreK-2) Collection, an Upper Elementary (3-5) Collection, a Middle School (6-8) Collection, a Lower High School (9-10) Collection, and an Upper High School (11-12) Collection.

Currently, collection development is done by WiLS and OverDrive with guidance from the Board. In addition to providing ebooks and audiobooks to students at member schools, the collection now also includes a large collection of magazines, comic books, and graphic novels.

Past Presentations and Documents

Publications

If you have any questions about this project, please contact the WSDLC Project Managers (wsdlc-info@wils.org).