In my last article I said you would see places where we had to cut the budget. The most noticeable cut so far is Overdrive. We have been fortunate to have access to eBook and eAudiobooks for more than 12 years, but the price to maintain Overdrive is becoming prohibitive.

Last year our price to have service from Overdrive went up 250 percent. Before, each library paid a flat fee for Overdrive service. This was a good policy for 11 years. However last year, pricing was redone to reflect the usage from each library. It just so happens that our patrons used it more than anyone else in the consortia. This is actually a great thing, we fought for it, we trained (and still train) all patrons on eBooks, eReaders, and other tablet devices. Because we are out there providing the knowledge and promoting the program, we get the usage. When the powers that be decided to redistribute the billing, we took a giant hit. Our Overdrive fee only covered the privilege of having the program, before we bought a single item. The general collection was controlled by a library group in and around Chicago. We never had any say in what should or should not be collected, unless we add even more money to the pot.