When I was briefly a staff librarian at OverDrive, the announcement came down that PRH would be eliminating the One Copy/One User model for library eBooks (an eBook that can only be checked out one patron at a time but never expires) in favor of the Metered Access model (eBooks that expire after a certain amount of checkouts or time). The reaction was not…one of excitement, to say the least, and the fear of OverDrive and its library partners was that other publishers would follow suit. Well…here we go. It’s happening.

Now, I would love to be able to assure you with confidence that the publishers are not doing this to sabotage libraries and really are doing what’s best for both parties. But I can assure with confidence that most libraries did not say that they would prefer to give the One Copy/One User model in exchange for saving a few lousy backs on Metered Access. A significant price decrease, like, say, $65 to $25? Maybe. But not this. Read on…