Softlink Education

27/08/2026

Dolly's Imagination Library has put a love of reading into the hands of millions of kids. As a team that spends every day supporting school libraries and the people who run them, this one hits home. 💛

14/08/2026

Small world moment! 🏉 While running an Oliver demo at a school in Springfield, our education consultant Denise had a great surprise run-in with Sam Thaiday — former NRL star and Brisbane Broncos legend. Just another day out supporting school libraries across Queensland!

10/08/2026

Celebrating diverse stories from Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand, this ready-made News Page brings together the winners, shortlist & longlist across Picture Books, Chapter Books and Middle Grade, plus read-along videos, a diversity checklist, and teaching resources — all in one place.

Use it as-is, or make it your own.

👉 Download it free from the Oliver Community Portal: https://softlink.my.site.com/oliverv5/s/article/DANZ-Award-Winners

New to downloadable News Pages, or want tips on getting the most out of them? Here's everything you need to know: https://www.softlinkint.com/resource-details/oliver_news_pages/

07/08/2026

As more students turn to AI before they turn to the library, how can we keep the library at the centre of research?

The answer isn't to compete with AI, it's to make trusted, curated resources easier to discover.

Join Kerianne, our in-house qualified teacher librarian, for a free 30-minute demonstration of LearnPath and see how schools are creating curriculum-aligned research guides that help students start with reliable information while strengthening digital literacy skills.

Monday 14 September | 2:00–2:30pm (AEST)
Presented by Kerianne, qualified teacher librarian
Live demonstration + Q&A

👉 Register free: 63ba3cb1-5575-41db-a16e-bf876868f73d@75c696ec-5bfb-4892-9a0c-9187a9061cd6" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/63ba3cb1-5575-41db-a16e-bf876868f73d@75c696ec-5bfb-4892-9a0c-9187a9061cd6

LearnPath works with Oliver, but if you're not yet an Oliver school, you're still welcome to join us and see what's possible.

02/07/2026

Term 3 is a big one for the library calendar! NAIDOC Week, Book Week, R U OK? Day, National Science Week... so many chances to bring stories and students together.

We've pulled together the key dates across Australia and NZ for Term 3, each with a book recommendation to match. Think "Matilda" for Roald Dahl Day and "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse" for R U OK? Day.

Grab the full calendar and start planning your displays 👇
https://www.softlinkint.com/blog/special-days-to-celebrate-in-your-school-library-term-3-in-australia-and-new-zealand/

30/06/2026

23/06/2026

Build 8.071 is live! Voice search for students, overdue flags for teachers, better reporting for you, and more.

Ready to update? Head to the blog to check your version and enable automatic updates: https://www.softlinkint.com/blog/are-you-on-the-latest-ov5-update/

05/06/2026

The team are ready for in Wi******er. Fantastic couple of days planned.

28/05/2026

The countdown to the FIFA World Cup 2026 is on! While students are busy making match predictions, school libraries can use that exact same energy to boost reading engagement.

If a student insists they aren't a reader, hand them a book of player statistics, an atlas of the 16 host cities, or invite them to write a post-match report. Sports reading counts! 📈

We’ve put together a quick guide featuring low-prep library display ideas, reading league tables, and details on how to get pre-made World Cup news pages dropped straight onto your Oliver news page.

Read the full blog here: https://www.softlinkint.com/blog/game-on-using-the-world-cup-to-engage-reluctant-readers-in-your-school-library/

24/05/2026

Your students are already using AI. But do they know how to check what it tells them? 🤔

We've refreshed one of our favourite blog posts with practical AI literacy ideas for school libraries, from "fact-check the chatbot" to spotting AI-generated text and images.

It's all built on the source-evaluation skills you're already teaching, with free resources you can use right away.

Read it here: https://www.softlinkint.com/blog/great-digital-literacy-skills-ideas-for-your-school-library/