American Rescue Plan Act Funding

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 was signed into law on March 11. It designates $200 million in pandemic response funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Of the $200 million, $178 million is allocated for state library administrative agencies. Idaho’s allotment of the ARPA funding will be approximately $2.4 million and will help support Idaho libraries’ efforts to keep students learning and adults earning. These funds will address the need for equitable access to broadband and quality digital content.

The ICfL has allotted approximately $350,000 in ARPA funds to establish an “IMLS ARPA OverDrive Funds” opportunity for Idaho public libraries. These are one-time funds.

Idaho public libraries are eligible to receive $2,000 per facility directly to their OverDrive account in order to purchase additional content for their digital collections and/or reimburse membership/platform fees to join an existing Idaho OverDrive consortium. (Facilities for this purpose are defined as the combined total count of centrals, branches, and bookmobiles for a public library as reported in the 2020 Idaho Public Library Statistics.)

Allowable OverDrive Purchases

These IMLS ARPA OverDrive funds cannot be used to purchase subscription or time-limited content where access would extend beyond September 30, 2022. However, purchasing all other types of content is permissible.

• Purchasable OverDrive Lending Models
  • OC/OU (one copy, one user)
  • MA (metered access): by checkout (one user or concurrent users)
  • MA (metered access): by time IF time expires by September 30, 2022
  • MA (metered access): by earlier of x time or y checkouts IF time expires by September 30, 2022
  • CPC (cost per circ)
  • Simultaneous Use IF time expires by September 30, 2022
  • Databases & Streaming Media IF time expires by September 30, 2022
• NOT Purchasable OverDrive Lending Models
  • MA (metered access): by time IF time extends beyond September 30, 2022
  • MA (metered access): by earlier of x time or y checkouts IF time extends beyond September 30, 2022
  • Simultaneous Use IF time extends beyond September 30, 2022
  • Databases & Streaming Media IF time extends beyond September 30, 2022

OverDrive is working to make special MA (metered access): by time lending models available where the term is specifically designed to end by September 30, 2022 and are thus prorated accordingly.

Current OverDrive Members vs New OverDrive Members

This IMLS ARPA OverDrive funds opportunity will operate differently depending on whether the applying library is already an OverDrive member or not.

• Current OverDrive Members
  • You will receive your IMLS ARPA OverDrive funds as a content credit in OverDrive Marketplace sometime in late July. If you are a member of an OverDrive Consortium, this content credit will be deposited for the overall consortium collection — it cannot be placed in an individual library’s OverDrive Advantage or OverDrive Advantage Plus account.
• New OverDrive Members
  • You will first need to join an existing Idaho OverDrive consortium, such as the Idaho Digital Consortium or the LIBRI Consortium. Contact ICfL E-Services Program Supervisor Dylan Baker (dylan.baker@libraries.idaho.gov) if you need more information about joining an existing OverDrive Consortium.
  • To join an OverDrive Consortium, your library will need to pay OverDrive’s membership/platform fee. (OverDrive does not have a process for ICfL to pay this on behalf of your library.) After paying OverDrive’s membership/platform fee, you can submit your invoice/receipt to ICfL to receive reimbursement for your library out of your IMLS ARPA OverDrive funds.
  • Any of your remaining IMLS ARPA OverDrive funds will then be handled the same as for current OverDrive members (see above).

Program Requirements

Approved applicants will:

• Purchase eligible OverDrive materials and/or join an existing Idaho OverDrive consortium using these funds from July 1, 2021 – August 11, 2022.
• Spend all funds by August 11, 2022.
• Complete and submit a program report by August 11, 2022.

Questions? Contact ICfL:

If you have questions about this application, allowable expenditures, or any other questions, please contact Dylan Baker, E-Services Program Supervisor, at dylan.baker@libraries.idaho.gov, (208) 639-4167.

This program is brought to you by the Idaho Commission for Libraries and was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.