September 26, 2023

Includes Two Great Resources!

Britannica School: Early Elementary (PreK–2) 

Britannica School: Elementary (Up to Grade 5) 

Britannica School: Early Elementary (PreK–2) — As the ideal launchpad for young scholars, this platform sets the tone for exploration with a vibrant environment filled with curriculum-aligned games, puzzles, and interactive activities, along with read-aloud options for beginning readers.

Britannica School: Elementary (Up to Grade 5) — Designed to build foundational knowledge and stimulate curiosity, this child-friendly platform features simplified articles, engaging multimedia, and interactive games that make complex topics accessible and enjoyable while enhancing reading and comprehension abilities.

Want the unique link for your institution? 
Get it in the Links Generator!

Greensburg Training Location Change and Space Available

Good news! The Greensburg session was full, but there are now spaces available for participants to attend because we had to move the training location due to renovations at the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit exceeding the expected timetable. The Greensburg Fall Training session scheduled for October 11th will now take place at the Greensburg Garden and Civic Center, where we will be able to welcome additional participants!

Fall training will be in-person only, and space is limited.

Don't wait to register!

Learn about the newly added e-resources to POWER Library:

• Britannica School Elementary
• Cricket Media Collection
• MyHeritage Library Edition
• SIRS Discoverer
• Transparent Language Online

Training is included in the Technology Support Fee.  There is no additional cost to attend training for POWER Library/Access PA staff of participating institutions.

eCards beginning with the number 24752 will expire on 10/1.

The eCard registration system has been upgraded to a new system that requires all eCard users to register for a new eCard. 

Important notes:

• Patrons with a library card issued by their local library do not need an eCard.
• Do not share an eCard number with students or post an eCard number to Google Classrooms, etc. The sharing and/or posting of library card numbers is a violation of the e-resource license agreements. 
• Single Sign-On (SSO) is available for schools that use Clever, Google, or ClassLink. To learn more about SSO, please visit:
  https://powerlibrary.org/librarians/sso
  

We wish you the very best of luck as you start this new school year!

Let's get started on the right foot!

• Check your POWER Library contact information. Is your school’s entry in the Participant Directory up to date?
• Does your district have any new librarians? Please let us know so that we can get their contact information, get them added to email lists, and subscribed to the newsletters, etc.

Check your access to POWER Library E-Resources 

• Make sure you test ALL the POWER Library links on your website from inside your school – sometimes authentication issues are vendor-specific. 
• Are you being prompted for a barcode number inside your school? Contact your IT department for your current public/external IP address or range as well as any additional public IP addresses including load balancers, backups, cloud filters, separate wireless or student device networks, etc. If there are any updates, please let us know!
• Are you seeing another type of access issue? Check to make sure that you’re using your school-specific links, available via the Links Generator. If updating the links doesn’t solve the problem, please let us know!  
• Does your school use SSO to access POWER Library? Test authentication from both inside and outside of the school building. If one or both isn’t working, please let us know!

Check your information in SHAREit, the Access Pennsylvania Catalog 

• Participate in ILL? Take a look at your Participant Record in SHAREit and make sure it’s current. Participant Record documentation is available if you need a refresher. 
• At a different school this year? Please let us know so we can verify that your school’s SHAREit notifications come to you. 
• Did you export your holdings at the end of last year? If not, now is a great time to do so! Unsure how? Let us know and we’ll get you the documentation and login credentials you need.

Check your statistics

Getting your library’s monthly statistics emailed to you? If not, log into the Current Statistics module and set up your profile.  Not sure how? Check out the POWER Library E-Resource Statistics documentation, specifically "Generating Monthly Reports" (p. 7)

Looking to make it easier for your students?

Looking to make it easier for your students to access POWER Library e-resources from home? Single Sign-On (SSO) authentication is now available for school districts using ClassLink, Clever, or Google as their SSO platform.

No more eCards or library cards!
SSO eliminates the need for students to enter library card or eCard numbers.

What will it cost my school to make SSO available?
There is no additional fee to add SSO authentication for public school districts. However, every school in the district must participate in POWER Library. Private schools will be assessed a small annual fee to add SSO authentication.

Check Your POWER Library Contact Information

Please forward this newsletter to the librarians, especially any new librarians, in your district or system that participate in POWER Library.

Do You Need Support? We Are Here To Help!

If you need support, please use one of the options provided below to contact HSLC. 

Complete the POWER Library Support Form
Email us at support@hslc.org
Call us at 215-222-1532