Skip To Talking Book & Braille Service Content Skip Navigation

Nebraska OverDrive Libraries logo

Joining the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Consortium

Information for Nebraska public libraries interested in joining the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries consortium.

Membership Requirements:

Membership is open to Nebraska public libraries, legally-established under Nebraska State Statute 51-201, serving populations of less than 100,000. Libraries must also meet the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries requirements outlined on the Criteria for Nebraska Library Commission Services page.

Pricing:

Annual Participation Fee: Each library participating in the group pays an annual participation fee that goes toward purchasing shared OverDrive content for the consortium.

  • 2023/2024 Annual Participation Fee for NEW Participants - Participation fees for NEW participants joining AT THE BEGINNING of the 2023/2024 term will be calculated using the following formula:
    • $0.13 per population served (using legal service area population), with a minimum cost of $500. (This means that libraries with a legal service area population of 3,846 or less will pay the minimum participation fee of $500.)
  • 2023/2024 Annual Participation Fee for RENEWING Participants - Participation fees for libraries that paid a Nebraska OverDrive Libraries Group participation fee for the 2022/2023 year will be calculated using the following formula:
    • $0.10 per population served (using legal service area population), with a minimum cost of $500. (This means that libraries with a legal service area population of 5,000 or less will pay the minimum participation fee of $500.) These libraries have the option of contributing additional funds.

Annual Maintenance Fee: The Nebraska Library Commission will continue to pay the annual maintenance fee. This fee was originally $12,000 per year but it has increased to $20,000 per year.

Participation Term:

October 1 through September 30. 

Libraries may join mid-term; however, participation fees will not be prorated for libraries joining mid-term.

Deadline:

Setup can take up to two months, so if you would like your access to start on October 1, the first day of the new participation year, you must submit your paperwork by August 1.

To Place an Order:

Please contact Susan Knisely to request an Overdrive Participation Form and an OverDrive Purchase Agreement. These two documents must be printed out, signed, and returned to: Susan Knisely, Nebraska Library Commission, 1200 N Street, Suite 120, Lincoln, NE 68508-2023.  If you prefer you may fax these documents to Susan Knisely at 402-471-2083. 

Please feel free to email Devra Dragos or Susan Knisely if you are interested in participating in this group and have additional questions.

Licensing:

Participating libraries will be required to sign and submit an Overdrive Participation Form when they join the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries consortium. By doing so they agree to abide by the terms and conditions of the Digital Library Reserve Application Services Agreement with OverDrive, Inc. signed by the Nebraska Library Commission .

Due to restrictions related to digital rights management, OverDrive content is not intended to be downloaded to library computers. Patrons using reading/listening devices that require them to initially download content to a computer should identify a non-library computer (at home, at work, at a friend or family member's house) that they can use for this step.

See also information on non-resident borrowers.

Patron Authentication: 

In order to check items out of the Nebraska OverDrive Libraries collection, your patrons will need to be authenticated to confirm that they are authorized patrons of your library.

OverDrive works with current versions of many common integrated library systems, such as Biblionix, Bywater Solutions, Follett, Innovative Interfaces, and Sirsi/Dynix, to authenticate patrons to download digital content from OverDrive.  Libraries using these systems will need to provide information to OverDrive that OverDrive will then use to set up authentication for the libraries' patrons.

The Nebraska Library Commission has agreed to host remote authentication on behalf of libraries running systems that won't communicate directly with OverDrive. This will eliminate the need for these libraries to purchase and set up their own proxy servers.


For more information, contact Databases.