As summer winds down, it’s time to gear up for another exciting school year! Even for public librarians it’s important to use this season to plan and prepare the kids and teens in your community to have a successful academic year. Learn about all the offerings we have to help you gear up for greatness here.  

We’ve also put together the ultimate checklist to ensure you’re ready to hit the ground running this fall: 

1. Review your organization’s goals for the year 

We’re more than halfway through 2024, making this the perfect time to check in with your organization’s priorities and see if you are on track. Whether your library is looking to hit 1 million digital checkouts for the first time, increase the number of readers using Libby, or any other goal tied to your mission, set aside time to review your progress and come up with a plan if you need to adjust to hit your targets. 

2. Save up to 50% on thousands of titles in our Back to School Sale 

Visit Marketplace between August 12 and September 30 to save up to 50% on thousands of juvenile and Young Adult ebooks and audiobooks.  

To help you shop, we’ve put together a few lists for you:  

3. Refresh your curated collections  

Once you’ve added new titles to your digital library, don’t forget to add them to curated collections to make sure readers see them! Also take this time to look at all the curated collections on your site for any refresh opportunities. You can also start planning ahead for the fall and winter by building curated collections you’ll publish in the coming months or editing and updating the ones you used last year.  

4. Plan your promotion calendar 

Example of a graphic available on the Resource Center

Get the word out about your OverDrive collection with the free marketing kits and social media graphics available on the Resource Center!

Social media best practices: 

  • Create a content calendar to help you plan ahead. The graphics and kits on the Resource Center are refreshed monthly so be sure to check back often. 
  • Add social media links to your library website so your users can find you online. 
  • Schedule posts to save staff time and help you reach followers no matter what time of day (or night!) it is. 
  • If your physical library is closed for a holiday, staff development day, or any other reason, don’t forget to post on social media that the digital library is always open. We even have graphics on the Resource Center you can use! 

5. Give your users the best in streaming video with Kanopy 

Don’t have Kanopy yet as part of your digital library collection? We have two offers happening between August 12 and September 30 for new customers that you don’t want to miss: 

  • Add 2 or more PLUS packs and get 20% off the full order 
  • Add Pay-Per-Use (PPU) and get 50% off subscription for Kanopy Kids 

With Big Movie Watch returning September 5-16, now is a great time to add Kanopy so you can bring the film Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game to your community ticket free for the duration of the program! Contact your Account Manager to get started.

6. CONNECT with your local school district 

Did you know you can provide age-appropriate ebooks and audiobooks to students at your local school district using their school login credentials? With Public Library CONNECT, students can use their school credentials in the Sora reading app to view both your public library’s digital collection and their schools, providing them with more titles to choose from! Read one public library’s Public Library CONNECT success story here. 

Contact your OverDrive Account Manager to learn more about how you can strengthen the partnership with your school district using Public Library CONNECT. 

7. Watch a library staff training webinar from OverDrive 

Kids aren’t the only ones who can use this time of year to enhance their knowledge and skills! Check out our schedule of upcoming and on-demand webinars to learn more about getting started with Libby and Kanopy, fabulous book picks for fall, engaging readers with magazines and more! Unable to attend an upcoming webinar live? Register anyway as a recording will be sent out after the live event that you can watch at your convenience.  

About the author: Jill Grunenwald is a Marketing & Communications Specialist on the North America Public Library Marketing Team. A former librarian, she joined OverDrive in 2015. Outside of the office she can be found writing, hanging out with her cats, collecting more Tarot decks than she has room for, and playing competitive pinball. Her favorite genre is something she calls “Murder at an educational institution that involves a close-knit group of suspicious characters.”