Ghoulish Cooperative Purchasing

Orientation Tools for New Staffers
Are you new to your library, or have you recently switched positions? The WiLS Cooperative Purchasing team can ease that transition with our MyWiLS orientation tools! These resources are specifically designed for library staff members and help document your subscription information – URLs and access information, usage stats, invoicing preferences, and communications from WiLS – to make transitions easier and ensure uninterrupted access to your resources. In addition, we provide information on our partners, the BadgerLink team and CESA Purchasing, and WiLS other services that can provide valuable resources to MyWiLS users.

Please contact the WiLS Cooperative Purchasing team at coop@wils.org to schedule an orientation meeting or ask questions. We are here to help.

Complete Subscription Life Cycle Management
The WiLS Cooperative Purchasing team does more than negotiate discounts with our vendor partners; we provide services that make managing the entire life cycle of your subscription easier, from on-demand trials to fully customized invoicing. Our one-stop-shop subscription management portal, MyWiLS, makes it simple and fast to manage all your subscriptions. We also offer deposit accounts and can pay any bill you send our way with our bill pay service so you have the purchasing flexibility you need.

WiLS Vendor Partner and Product Catalog
Did you know that you can browse and search through the catalog of WiLS vendor partners and their products on our website? This feature helps MyWiLS subscribers quickly and easily find just the products they are looking for, request a quote, and get the purchase process rolling.

Creepy Consulting

Data and Research Services
Whether it’s a deep look at your service numbers, a survey to understand community needs, or general research and data analysis, WiLS can provide the answers you need. We offer automatic visualizations of dozens of Annual Report metrics and basic community demographic data with the Data Dashboards for Public Libraries. Also, we just launched the WiLS Data Classroom, an opportunity to learn practical data skills specifically for public libraries and with public library peers. With a data analyst on staff and over a decade of experience in library research projects, our warm and approachable team will craft the best process for you. Contact Kim Kiesewetter at kim@wils.org for more details.

Small Library Strategic Planning Cohort
A strategic plan helps libraries make decisions, big and small, and every library should be able to afford a strategic plan. Each year, we offer an opportunity for a cohort of public libraries in small communities of 5,000 people or fewer to learn about their community’s needs and aspirations and use them to craft strategic directions for the next 3-5 years. The next application period will be open in the summer of 2024. If you have any questions, contact Laura Damon-Moore at laura@wils.org.

Custom Strategic Plan Development
We’ve worked with libraries large and small in Wisconsin (and now Pennsylvania!) to develop over 40 custom strategic plans. We offer a flexible framework that relies on data collection to help make the best decisions and is rooted in the belief that the library is important to its community and its community is important to the library. We listen to what you need and work with you to make it happen within your budget. If you would like more information, contact Melissa McLimans at melissa@wils.org.

Spooky Upcoming WiLS Events

WiLSWorld Shorts: The 36-hour Full Time Work Week Experiment
Friday, November 17th at 1:00 pm CT  |  Read more or register to attend

A growing body of research suggests that knowledge workers, particularly those working remotely, only produce high-quality work 3 to 5 hours per day. At WiLS, we are always looking for ways to boost employee wellness and improve workplace productivity, so we dug into the research and launched a reduced work week pilot, which we conducted over the summer in 2023. The goal? To encourage a healthier work-life balance while maintaining current productivity levels. The result? Come to this presentation with WiLS staffers Jen Chamberlain, Melody Clark, and Andi Coffin to find out!

Taco Tuesdays in October and November
We’ve doubled the taco helpings! Join WiLS and WiLS members for 15-minute vendor presentations on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. Here’s what’s coming up:

Visit the Taco Tuesday website to see all upcoming editions.

Scary Ideas to Action

In September, we announced the 2023 recipients of WiLS’ Ideas to Action Fund:

• Clear Lake School District, Bringing Our History to Life
• Hales Corners Library, W. Ben Hunt Prairie Learning Garden
• Hartland Public Library, Biking Along the Ice Age Trail with the Hartland Public Library
• Lake Geneva Public Library, Leaves and Sheaves: Papermaking for Art and the Environment
• UW-Stevens Point, Poem in Your Pocket Day
• Western Technical College. Blooming with Books: Cultivating a Community of Readers of All Ages in the Learning Commons
• Wisconsin Library Association, Great Lakes, Great Reads: A Community Read for Our Watershed
• W J Niederkorn Library, Libraries for Everyone: Supervised Visitations at Your Library

You can read more about these projects here.

If you are interested in applying for up to $5000 toward a project for your library or cultural organization, the 2024 Ideas to Action application period will open in April!

Share Your Historical Collections!
Do you have a physical or digital collection to share with the world through Recollection Wisconsin and the Digital Public Library of America? We want to grow our collection so that more Wisconsinites can see their stories represented! Reach out to us at info@recollectionwisconsin.org, stop by our booth during the WLA Conference, or register for an upcoming office hours appointment. We look forward to working with you.

Digital Readiness Toolkit Expanded for AV Materials
Recollection Wisconsin has enhanced and expanded its Digital Readiness Toolkit to incorporate guidance and best practices on digitizing and sharing audiovisual content. These enhancements, a result of valuable contributions from the Community Archiving Workshop, include a digital readiness self-assessment tool for your organization, a framework for prioritizing A/V materials for digitization, and in-depth guidance specifically for managing audiovisual collections. We’ve also updated and expanded the Digital Project Planning Worksheet, added support for choosing a Collection Management System and digitization equipment, and incorporated requests for resources and information requested by practitioners. This updated version is now available in ebook format, offering a more user-friendly and interactive experience with easier access to the Toolkit’s valuable information.

Keeping Membership Costs Affordable and Content Quality High
At $1.65 per student, WSDLC membership is a very affordable way for your students to access nearly 60,000 copies of 20,000 unique titles of ebooks, digital audiobooks, magazines, and comic books in three collections based on students’ grade levels. The WSDLC allows districts of any size to access an extensive digital library and is committed to keeping membership costs affordable. The WSDLC membership year runs from September 1st to August 31st, and schools can join at any time at a prorated cost.

Meeting Members Where They Are With New Features in Sora
A new membership year brings new, exciting features in Sora to the WSDLC collections. The features below are designed to provide WSDLC members autonomy over content and data.

Advantage Filtering: This feature allows WSDLC member schools and districts to manage their content access levels and weed titles without affecting access for other WSDLC members. To learn more, please see this short video or contact wsdlc-info@wils.org to review or make changes to your district’s content access levels.

Shelf Talkers: This newest Sora feature allows media specialists to highlight individual titles in Sora to inspire and encourage students to check out a title and read.

Student Dashboard: This feature permits districts to tailor learning to their students on a more individual basis. Following industry best practices to protect student-level data and privacy, the Student Dashboard feature allows districts to better know their students’ reading levels and interests. Learn more about the Student Dashboard here or contact wsdlc@overdrive.com to enable the feature in your district.