Magazines in Sora

We have a rapidly growing collection of magazines available in Sora! These magazines are simultaneous access (so they're available all the time, no waiting and no holds). Check out the lists below. The magazines are filtered by content access levels, so elementary students will only see Juvenile content, middle schoolers will see Juvenile and YA, and high schoolers and adults can see all of the available magazines. See the Magazine Marketing Kit for ways to promote this in your library.

We are hoping to have professional magazines added; so far, Booklist, Booklist Reader, and Book Links are available, along with many you might be purchasing in print (from Chickadee to National Geographic).

This screencast shows some Sora highlights, including magazines, Big Library Read, Global Read Aloud, and more.

Slide: How to check reviews and self-service requests

Slide: How to utilize the task clock feature

If you haven't noticed it lately, or you're new to OPALS, there's a little clock icon in the upper right of your OPALS home page that is an easy way to check on different kinds of housekeeping items, such as:

• ILL requests in the union catalog
• Overdue items
• Reserves that students/teachers made
• Student reviews

These alerts are hyperlinked, so if you click on them in the clock, it will take you where you need to go. It's a great shortcut for some things that otherwise have us digging through the Administration tab to find. Check it out!

(Note that ILL requests may stay there, even after you've addressed them in the union catalog, if it's a request for multiple copies that isn't yet completely filled on the requester's end.)

This resource, linked below, has some great resources if you are looking to add diversity to your collection. Check out the Educators tab for reading lists, webinars, and more.

Sarah McCann, Hudson Falls Middle School, recently shared:

Children's Favorites is a national reading program organized by the nonprofit Children's Book Council. Young people across the country, teachers and librarians, will read and vote for their favorite new children's books during fall 2022, and their top picks - Children's Favorites - will comprise a free classroom and library resource for 2023.

How did she get started with this? She received an email from the Children's Book Council asking for applications for coordinators for the program. She applied and was accepted. Once the program started, she was given grades 6-8 as her grade levels. It's a once a year program. Publishers send pre-released books for consideration to be read by students, teachers, and librarians and voted on. The library gets to keep all 300 books. The Children's Book Council then creates a list of the top favorites for the year and publishes them and other instructional materials on their website.

Click the button below to see what we are offering this Fall. Please check back often as we are always adding new opportunities.

Unless otherwise stated in the Frontline description, all workshops will be held in person this year. We will follow WSWHE BOCES and health department guidance at the time of each workshop. If there is a need to go virtual, participants will be notified as soon as possible.

Join us for an opportunity to see what's new with World Book's suite of PreK-12 educational products, an engaging and trustworthy digital resource with age-appropriate articles that translate into over 100 languages. Integration with G-Suite, Canva, Classlink, Clever and Schoology. Citation builder, digital backpack, lesson plans and WebQuests help students develop research skills. Join us if you have questions about your existing subscription or want to learn more about how World Book's core databases can work for your students and teachers.

Date: November 8th

Time 10:00 am - 11:00 am

Location: Online (Zoom link sent to participants the day before the event)

Register: https://www.mylearningplan.com/WebReg/ActivityProfile.asp?D=18589&I=4262232

Kerrie Burch, School Library System Director

Karin Howansky, School Library Media Specialist

Nancy Babbitt, Databases, Budgets, General Information

Deb Massa, Information Processing Specialist