Library board ratifies Overdrive agreement after staff say new formula is fairer despite a cost increase

The Davis County Library Board on Nov. 13 ratified a memorandum of agreement with the Utah State Library that preserves the system's access to the Overdrive Beehive Library Consortium despite a change in the consortium’s funding formula.

Library staff and board members said the new formula allocates the consortium's total cost based on each member's share of checkouts. Ellen Peterson told the board, “We had over 1000000 for the year,” citing 2024 circulation figures to explain Davis County’s large share. Staff said Davis County’s percentage of checkouts is about 16 percent and that the revised formula reduced the county’s expected payment by roughly $20,000 compared with what the older method would have produced this year.

Josh Johnson said the expense will be charged to the library’s ‘books and materials’ budget line. He noted that, under the consortium arrangement, about 50 percent of member payments return to a library’s advantage collection (titles a jurisdiction can prioritize) while the remainder supports statewide purchases and packages.

Board members discussed budgeting implications and asked staff to clarify whether some platform or software maintenance expenses (for example, an internally referenced 'chat' service) are charged elsewhere; staff said related subscription or software-maintenance costs will use separate lines. The board approved the memorandum by voice vote.

Staff listed the benefits of continued consortium membership (broader digital access for patrons and an advantage collection for local purchases) and will implement the MOA through normal contract and budget processes.