Technology

This year, nearly 100 school districts across the state have expanded their library collection with popular and classic eBooks that students can read anytime, anywhere, made possible by the Wisconsin Schools Digital Library Consortium. This consortium provides nearly 3500 eBooks to over 114,000 students across the state at a cost of only $1.50 per student. The consortium launched in January 2018 to help all districts across the state gain access to digital resources at an affordable price.

“The WSDLC collection opened the door to accessible e-books at our elementary school through easy use, a large selection, and teacher support. As the district library media specialist, I can now offer ebooks for everyone and can accommodate requests with almost instant additions to our collection with our account - this keeps students reading and teachers requesting them,” reports Peg Billing, Library Media Instructional Technology Coordinator of the School District of Tomahawk.

This eBook collection can help students of all ages read more and improve comprehension. Struggling or reluctant readers, learning-challenged, second language learners, and gifted readers can all benefit from this service that can enrich vocabulary, improve comprehension and pronunciation, connect students to books for their personal reading levels, teach critical listening, and help busy kids find time to read.

Three grade-appropriate libraries, for grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12, make up the collection. Students can browse the library’s catalog, borrow titles, and start reading on all major computers and devices and all checkouts automatically expire at the end of the lending period - no late fees!

Like Wisconsin’s Digital Library for public library patrons, this collection is provided on the OverDrive platform. “The Richfield middle school students absolutely love using OverDrive,” says Richfield School District’s Patricia Thoma. “The idea of always having a book there for them, or on hold, excites our students. Every day, over 75% of our readers choose to read electronically. Our readership has exploded, and our nonreaders are extinct.”

The Wisconsin Schools Digital Library Consortium is a partnership between the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, CESA Purchasing, the CESA Statewide Network, and WiLS. To learn more about WSDLC, visit https://www.wils.org/wsdlc.

Article written by Sara Gold, WiLS Community Liaison/Service Specialist

The Department of Public Instruction has an opening for a full-time BadgerLink Technical Support and Training Specialist.

The BadgerLink Technical Support and Training Specialist will provide system administration and technical support for BadgerLink, implement new BadgerLink resources, manages the statewide authentication system for BadgerLink and other resources managed by the DPI, and develop innovative strategies and tools to raise public awareness of programs and services provided to libraries and residents statewide.

See the job announcement on wisc.jobs for full details and how to apply: BadgerLink Technical Support & Training Specialist announcement

Written by: Elizabeth Neuman, Resources for Libraries & Lifelong Learning

Recently, I have had a number of opportunities to expand my knowledge base in using library spaces for exploration, innovation, and creation. These are not new concepts to school librarians, but they have been recently showcased differently under the term makerspace. Rather than focus on this term, which may be ephemeral, I shall take a moment to illustrate how these ideas are a foundation of library programming and hopefully provide some inspiration to take some time with students and teachers, in this month when testing is concluding but the school year is not, to try out ideas and start planning for next year.

We can find justification for why exploration, innovation, and creation should be part of library programming in the AASL National School Library Standards and the Future Ready Librarian Framework. Although infused throughout AASL, the Shared Foundation called Explore exemplifies these themes in its Learner and School Library Standards. For example, “Learners construct new knowledge by persisting through self-directed pursuits by tinkering and making,” and, “The school library facilitates construction of new knowledge by establishing and maintaining a learning environment conducive to independent and collaborative exploration and problem solving,” are, respectively, a competency and alignment found in the Create domain. The Future Ready Librarian principle of Use of Space and Time is defined by, “Provides flexible spaces that promote inquiry, creativity, collaboration, and community.” Both of these national level resources message that our libraries are no longer places to merely find information, but places where synthesis happens with new knowledge as a product.

In order to figure out what this synthesis looks like in your library space, find out what your school community needs and desires. Maybe that is a selection of robots and drones and coding tools. Possibly it is materials to build circuits or architectural wonders. There may be a need for yarn, fabric, and a sewing machine. Even coloring patterns, folding paper, and markers may make your list. The important thing is to find out what fits your space best, and that happens through exploring options. Set up a station or two each week for students, teachers, and other visitors to try. Take a seat at the table yourself and truly experience the design process, including the frustrations and the successes.

While you are exploring, be creative with finding resources. If you don’t have any robots or drones, see if you can borrow one from your public library or a neighboring district. This is a fabulous way to make connections for future collaborations. Try reaching out to parents and community members to see if they would be interested in showcasing a craft or skill. Maybe you can even find vendors willing to let you take a test-drive with a new item.

As your library vibrates with new experiences and learning, make sure to document the activities. Look at each station and ask why it is valuable, how much it costs, and what time and space requirements it needs. Survey user experiences and gather feedback through photos and videos, too. All these things will be valuable data points as you plan for future library purchases and programming. Have fun exploring!

Guest post from WiLS

WiLS wants to help bring your ideas to life!

Introducing the new WiLS Ideas to Action Fund! WiLS’ mission is to help our members turn ideas into action. The new WiLS Ideas to Action Fund seeks to do just that – provide support for innovative or collaborative projects in order to help our members reach their goals and have a positive impact on the Wisconsin library ecosystem.

What type of support, you ask? In this first year of the Ideas to Action Fund, WiLS will award a maximum of $25,000 (up to $5,000 per applicant) and a total of 25 hours of WiLS staff time. We recognize that sometimes the barrier to completing a project is not lack of funds, but the lack of time to plan or think about the process. Instead of or in addition to funding, organizations can apply for WiLS staff time to help organize the project or provide expertise in facilitation, survey administration, or other project activities.

We are now accepting proposals! Proposals for the 2018 Ideas to Action Fund can be submitted through May 14 using this application form. Small libraries are especially encouraged to apply.

Awards will be announced and funds will be distributed in June 2018.

For more information on the goals of the Fund and eligibility and requirements, visit our website at https://www.wils.org/ideas-to-action/.

Guest post from WiLS
Posted by Ben Miller, Resources for Libraries and Lifelong Learning