As the calendar turns to November, families around the world will begin planning for the upcoming holidays. Traditionally, this is a time where we see a big spike in usage of OverDrive-powered digital collections. This means you’ll want to make sure you’re prepared for the imminent holiday rush.

November is also an exciting month as we’re rolling out new OverDrive websites and mobile app experiences for many of our library partners. One of the many tools now available to library staff is the complete control over how the homepage and menu collections are displayed on your new website. This is a great way to engage new patrons and keep current users coming back. Here are some great collection ideas you can use this month to reach your community:

holiday-girlCurated Collection Ideas

Holiday cooking
A staple of the holiday season is, of course, large meals and tasty desserts. Nothing gets someone in the holiday spirit like a giant pile of cookies. Create a cooking collection similar to this one to highlight all the holidays the members of your community celebrates.

Diversity your collections
Examine your community and see what types of collections they prefer to borrow from your physical collection and mirror those collections on your digital library. OverDrive has content available in dozens of languages so there’s something for everyone. This will let them borrow the content they want, even when they can’t make it to the library.

Cozy Mysteries
What could be better than an evening by the fire with a nice, cozy mystery? Try building out a full collection of these by using the new searchable BISAC codes in OverDrive Marketplace. We’ve created a number of cozy mystery lists that are perfect places for you to start.

Keeping up with the trends
On our Collection Development page of the Resource Center we have a full list of “Trending Topics” and hot lists so whether you’re looking for the Westworld Read-Alikes, Walking Dead graphic novels or the latest international hits you’ll find them here.

Now is a great time to customize your collections, engage new patrons and keep patrons coming back. Visit OverDrive Marketplace for more curated collection ideas. Need additional content to diversity your collections? Our Holiday Spectacular Sale kicks off November 14!