Frequently Asked Questions

If your library is already an OverDrive partner, please continue to use OverDrive Marketplace for purchasing new digital titles for your collection. If you will be a new library partner to OverDrive, please continue to purchase titles through RBdigital until we create a purchasing account for your library with OverDrive.

If you have an active RBUnlimited subscription on the date of your transfer to OverDrive, OverDrive will make the titles in the subscription available to your users as Simultaneous Use (unlimited concurrent usage). While titles cannot be added to your RBUnlimited plan, OverDrive will honor simultaneous access to the titles through the subscription end date. Titles formerly available via RBUnlimited are or will be made available to you through OverDrive in other lending model(s). Please note that OverDrive can neither sell new RBunlimited plans, nor accept renewals on existing plans as of June 30, 2020. Please see additional information below regarding other renewal options.

Current RB Core Subscriptions: If you have an active RB Core subscription that will expire on or before your date of transfer to OverDrive, you may renew your RB Core subscription through December 31, 2020. Please contact your RBdigital representative for more information on how to renew.

New RB Core Subscriptions: Through December 31, 2020, Recorded Books library customers who would like to start a new RB Core subscription can do so by contacting their RB representative for information.

RBUnlimited Subscriptions: If you have a recently expired, or soon to expire RBUnlimited subscription, you may replace the subscription with an RB Core subscription through December 31, 2020. Please note that the RB Core catalog includes a smaller selection of titles than the Unlimited catalog as well as has different subscription pricing. Please contact your RB representative for more information on how to purchase.

Yes. We recently added all 4,000 recently published titles by Recorded Books to OverDrive Marketplace and they are available to your library today. This effort is ongoing and in the coming weeks, entire catalogs from Recorded Books and W.F. Howes will be available for OverDrive partners to purchase.

No. RBmedia plans to offer broad access to the library industry and library platforms.

Yes. CPC will be added to the Recorded Books, WFH Howes, Graphic Audio, and Gildan catalogs. Tantor, Christian Audio and Highbridge already offer their titles under the CPC model.

No. Hard-good purchasing will not be available on the OverDrive platform.

Yes. You will still be able to buy CD audiobooks from Recorded Books.

OverDrive is working closely with Accounting teams at RBdigital, W.F. Howes, and Wavesound to migrate all remaining credits to OverDrive. The time entailed can vary, and depends on content type:

• Ebooks and audiobooks: 4-8 weeks from your library’s ebook and audiobook migration date
• ZINIO magazines and comics: 4-8 weeks from your library’s migration date
• Databases and Streaming Video: Late Q2-early Q3 2021

When credit has been transferred, you can view it in the Marketplace Content credit history report (Insights > Purchase & order reports > Content credit history).

18 June 2021 update for partners that originally worked with W.F. Howes or Wavesound: In some instances, credits are taking longer to migrate than originally anticipated. Please be assured that we’re working across companies to complete this work and make credit available to you in your Marketplace account.

OverDrive will not continue RBdigital Standing Order Plans. If you want to schedule automated purchasing (e.g., new releases, high holds, etc.), please contact your OverDrive Account Manager and we will be happy to help set this up for your library using Automated Carts in OverDrive Marketplace. Please watch this how-to video to learn more.

Carts that your library has manually built in RBdigital but has not yet submitted will not be transferred, so we encourage you to submit those now or recreate them in OverDrive Marketplace.

Any titles with street dates after your library’s scheduled transfer date (preorder titles that haven’t yet been invoiced) won’t be included in the title transfer to OverDrive.

Preorder titles that are part of an RBunlimited subscription will be transferred to your digital collection on your library’s scheduled transfer date, and made available to borrow on their street date. No invoices will be issued from OverDrive for these titles because they are part of an existing subscription.

Yes, please contact your OverDrive Account Manager to request this report and we will provide it after the transfer.

No. On your transfer date, OverDrive transferred every title we had in our system. Since then, we have been working diligently to acquire titles that we did not have at that time. In the coming weeks, these titles will trickle into your collection. As with the initial transfer, these additional transfers will show as Purchase Orders ($0) in OverDrive Marketplace to help you track them.

To update MARC records for your RBdigital titles, you can choose either of the below options after the transfer occurs. Note that if you offer formats in addition to ebooks and audiobooks, you will want to maintain those records for now.

• Remove RBdigital MARC records from your library catalog and import free OverDrive MARC Express records. The day after your library’s content transfer you can retrieve the records from OverDrive Marketplace here.
• Replace the 856 field URLs in existing RBdigital MARC records with OverDrive URLs. Immediately following the content transfer, you can find direct title links in the corresponding content transfer purchase order in OverDrive Marketplace here.

Updating the records ensures API integrations continue without interruption. If your library takes no action, the links in your RBdigital MARC records will automatically re-direct to a new landing page that will provide additional instructions for your patrons.

If your library is a member of an OverDrive consortium, your RBdigital ebooks and audiobooks will be transferred to your library’s OverDrive Advantage collection. If you do not have Advantage, please contact your OverDrive Account Manager to sign up. If you’d prefer the titles be transferred to the shared collection and accessible to all member libraries, please let your OverDrive Account Manager know.

OverDrive will honor your RBdigital hosting fee terms through the RBdigital term or a maximum of one year from the contract start date.

Please share the details of the price quote with your OverDrive Account Manager during the process to review and discuss.

Please contact your OverDrive Account Manager to discuss.

Please contact your OverDrive Account Manager to discuss.

Yes. We will provide the OverDrive Library Order Form during the transfer process.

Yes. If desired, when your library is provided with your transfer date, you can provide notice to OverDrive of your intention to terminate the RBdigital contract by sending an email to legalteam@overdrive.com.

An OverDrive Account Manager will be in touch with you shortly.

Please contact your OverDrive Account Manager to discuss.

Messaging will be posted within the RBdigital app prior to the transfer (1-3 weeks). A marketing kit is available to help your library staff communicate the change to your users.

Please visit our Transition Resources page for a Preparation Checklist, marketing kit, and more to help you prepare your community for the change.

Libby will guide you through the setup process and get you connected to your library in just a few minutes. If you have questions, visit the Help site and Libby Academy within the app for assistance. You can also visit the OverDrive Resource Center for on-demand and live training resources.

Current checkouts will be available through the remainder of their lending period in the RBdigital app. Current checkouts will not be moved to OverDrive. This will allow users to finish their title without disruption or risk of losing their place in the book.

Holds will not be moved to OverDrive. Users can export their Transaction History from the RBdigital websites by accessing My Account > Profiles. Users can place holds on those titles again in Libby.

Checkout history will not be moved to OverDrive. However, you’ll be able to mark titles you’ve already read using Tags in Libby. Users can export their Transaction History from the RBdigital websites by accessing My Account > Profiles.

Wish lists will not be moved to OverDrive. Users can export their Transaction History from the RBdigital websites by accessing My Account > Profiles. Users can recreate their wish list in Libby using Tags.

Users will sign into Libby using a valid library card number (and PIN if required by your library).

OverDrive offers a suite of APIs, so if you’d like to continue to offer deeper integration, please visit http://developer.overdrive.com/ to learn more and apply. If you need assistance with APIs, please contact our Support team here: http://developer.overdrive.com/support/support_form.

RBdigital will continue to support your users using content available only through the RBdigital app.

OverDrive will provide direct support to your users through the Libby app.

You should download and save historical usage data from RBdigital prior to your scheduled transfer date to have for future reference.

No. You should download and save historical usage data from RBdigital prior to your scheduled transfer date.

Yes. Past usage and time remaining on active Metered Access titles will be transferred to OverDrive and reflected in OverDrive Marketplace.

You can download OverDrive’s W-9 from the Invoicing support page in OverDrive Marketplace.

Selectors will purchase content through OverDrive Marketplace, the shopping and administrative hub for your digital collection.

If you are new to OverDrive, an administrative account will be created for the main contact at your library when your library’s new OverDrive platform launches. That individual can then create additional accounts for library staff and assign applicable permissions.

A series of live training sessions are available for library staff to learn how to use OverDrive Marketplace. You can register here. If you’d like to schedule a personalized demo, please contact your OverDrive Account Manager. On-demand how-to videos are available anytime, anywhere on OverDrive’s Resource Center.

A series of live training sessions are available for library staff to learn how to use Libby. You can register here. If you’d like to schedule a personalized demo, please contact your OverDrive Account Manager. On-demand how-to videos are available anytime, anywhere on OverDrive’s Resource Center.

Beginning January 18, 2021, patrons will see messaging on the RBdigital platform about this upcoming change. Once your ZINIO content is transferred to OverDrive, messaging on your RBdigital platform will be updated with information on how your patrons can access your collection in the Libby app.

Magazines will be available in OverDrive Marketplace as an “all-in” simultaneous use subscription plan including over 3,000 popular magazines*. Wherever possible, each magazine will also have up to 3 years of back issues available. Partners that subscribe to this plan will receive all magazines in the package, along with any new magazines that get added for the duration of the subscription period.

*Title availability may vary by geographic region.

OverDrive will update your current ZINIO subscription to the “all-in” package of over 3,000 titles*.

*Title availability may vary by geographic region.

After November 30, 2020, you will be able to see a list of all titles in the magazine package under the Simultaneous Use section of the Shop tab in OverDrive Marketplace.

All a la carte magazine subscriptions will be upgraded to the “all-in” package of over 3,000 titles* at no additional cost to your library.

*Title availability may vary by geographic region.

We will begin the process to update your current ZINIO magazine subscription to the “all-in” magazine package and add the titles to your OverDrive platform in late January 2021. This will happen in lieu of a title by title migration. Wherever possible, OverDrive will also supply up to 3 years of back issues for each magazine.

We will supply a “rolling” 3 years of back issues wherever available. This means that all partners who subscribe to magazines through OverDrive will have access to the same titles and issues. Issues will be dynamically removed from library collections based on their date of publication.

Please contact your Account Manager for more information about renewal pricing.

The transfer process for all existing ZINIO subscriptions through RBdigital will begin in late January 2021. If you’d like to add magazines to your OverDrive collection sooner, please contact your OverDrive Account Manager.

No. There will not be circulation caps on any magazine titles.

At this time, we are only offering the “all-in” magazine package. If there are certain titles in this package that you do not want, you will have the option to weed them from your collection in OverDrive Marketplace.

If you choose not to renew your magazine subscription in the future, all magazines will be removed from your OverDrive collection.

Yes. At the time of your transfer, we plan to display only the most recent issues of every magazine, with links to previous issues from a magazine’s title details page.

The RBdigital product ID will not be available in OverDrive’s metadata. We will provide new MARC records for all magazine titles, free of charge.

Reporting for your library’s ZINIO magazines will remain available via RBdigital’s administrative portal until April 30, 2021.

If you are new to OverDrive or an existing customer that has MARC Express records enabled, you will receive MARC Express records for magazine titles at the time of your transfer. If you are an existing OverDrive customer that has MARC records delivered through another provider, MARC records will not be provided. Please contact your Account Manager to discuss another option.

No. We do not anticipate delays between when a new issue is released and when it’s made available in your OverDrive collection.

Instead of audience levels, magazine titles have dedicated subject headings in their metadata.

Yes. You will be able to create automated lists of magazine titles via the Curate section of OverDrive Marketplace.

Yes. Your library will be able to select the available lending periods for magazines in your collection. Options will include 7, 14, or 21 days.

Yes. Users will have the option to renew a magazine within 3 days of the end of the lending period. Since magazines are offered under simultaneous use, the user could also borrow the magazine again at any time.

No. Magazines will not count toward checkout limits.

We will support magazine-only collections in Libby for libraries that do not offer other formats. Users will also be able to set “Magazines” as their format preference throughout the Libby app. We can support the addition of new formats to your OverDrive platform at any time.

To create a streamlined and consistent user experience, all magazines will be available in Libby’s native reader. Libby will offer a special article and thumbnail view for magazine titles. At launch, Libby will not have text to speech functionality for magazines, though we are considering this feature for future development.

No. We do not currently have plans to support auto-checkout of magazine titles.

At this time, we are only planning to add the article view feature to Libby.

Yes. Any patron who previously borrowed ZINIO magazines from RBdigital will be able to access their historical magazine loans by either downloading the free ZINIO app or going to zinio.com. From the ZINIO app or website, patrons can register a new ZINIO account using the same email address they used to access RBdigital. Once registered, their previously borrowed ZINIO magazine loans will be available in their account.

You can visit this page for more information and marketing materials to help you promote OverDrive Magazines.

Yes. Similar to magazines, comics supplied by ZINIO will be available as a simultaneous use subscription plan without circulation caps. This subscription plan will also be all-in, meaning that the whole package will be available for one set price. Any partners who subscribe to this package will receive all comics currently available, along with any new comics that we add for the duration of their subscription. Like other simultaneous use plans, the comics are removed from the digital collection upon expiration of the subscription period.

Yes. If your library currently subscribes to ZINIO Comics, we will transfer all comic titles to your OverDrive platform. Transfers are expected to begin in late January, 2021.

Yes. OverDrive will continue to maintain our current partnerships with comics publishers to offer individual comics under the One Copy/One User and Cost Per Circ lending models in OverDrive Marketplace.

Cost-Per-Circ services:

• Craftsy (new to OverDrive–not previously offered by RBdigital)
• IndieFlix
• Qello
• The Great Courses

Subscription services:

• ArtistWorks
• LawDepot
• Learn It Live
• Method Test Prep
• PressReader (not available in the US, Canada, or Mexico)
• Universal Class

*Provider and content availability may vary by geographic region.

We will partner with additional providers to expand our offerings in the future.

Similar to how this content was offered through RBdigital, there will be two separate access models:

1. Cost-Per-Circ services provide users a period of unlimited access to the service (e.g., 7 days). Each access is a “circulation,” and users can get access as many times as they’d like until your library reaches your allocated monthly budget, which is set in OverDrive Marketplace. You’ll be able to set a monthly budget for each Cost-Per-Circ provider and you will receive a monthly invoice for all circulations. Content from Craftsy, IndieFlix, Qello, and The Great Courses will be available under the Cost-Per-Circ model.
2. Subscription services provide users with unlimited simultaneous access. Once a user “borrows” a subscription-based service, they will get access for 30 days. After the 30-day period, the user can sign up again for access during the length of your library’s subscription (e.g., one year). Subscriptions renew on an annual basis. Content from ArtistWorks, LawDepot, Learn It Live, Method Test Prep, PressReader, and Universal Class will be available under the Subscription model.

Cost-Per-Circ services: On May 20, 2021, RBdigital will turn off access to The Great Courses, IndieFlix, and Qello on their platform. To continue access to any of these services, you will need to activate a monthly budget for each provider in OverDrive Marketplace.

Subscription services: If your library has an active subscription to ArtistWorks, LawDepot, PressReader, or Universal Class, we will automatically add these services to your OverDrive platform on May 18, 2021. Access to these providers will also remain available on your RBdigital platform until May 20, 2021. Going forward, subscription services will renew on an annual basis.

*Note that while RBdigital offered Learn It Live and Method Test Prep in the Cost-Per-Circ model, these services will be available in the Subscription model from OverDrive. Please contact your Account Manager for guidance on transitioning these resources to your OverDrive platform.

April 30, 2021: Users will see the following message on the RBdigital platform about this upcoming change: As of May 18, 2021, the digital services offered here will move to the Libby app (some exceptions may apply). The RBdigital app will be retired on May 20, 2021.

May 18, 2021: If your library has an active subscription to ArtistWorks, LawDepot, PressReader, or Universal Class, we will automatically add these services to your OverDrive platform on this date.

May 20, 2021: RBdigital will turn off access to all Databases & Streaming Media services from their platform. RBdigital app users will receive an error message when attempting to open the app.

June 15, 2021: RBdigital will turn off access to reporting on usage of these services in Gateway Admin.

Please note that all dates are referenced in US time.

On May 21, 2021, RBdigital disabled access to these services through their app and website*. Accounting teams at RBdigital, W.F. Howes, and Wavesound are currently working to finalize all remaining invoices. Once invoicing is complete, OverDrive and these teams will coordinate the transfer of any remaining credit to your OverDrive billing account. We expect this effort to be ongoing for several weeks.

Once credit has been transferred, you can view it in the Marketplace Content credit history report (Insights > Purchase & order reports > Content credit history). OverDrive’s Accounting team will apply these funds toward invoices for Databases & Streaming Media services.

*Important: If you have not already done so, you will need to activate a monthly budget for each Cost-Per-Circ provider to ensure your users have access.

Your library’s AcornTV service will be discontinued on the RBdigital platform on May 14, 2021. We are in ongoing dialogue with AcornTV and will keep you updated on our progress with bringing their catalog to OverDrive.

If your library has any remaining credit on file for the AcornTV service after RBdigital teams complete their final invoicing, OverDrive teams will coordinate the transfer of this credit to your OverDrive billing account.

Once credit has been transferred, you can view it in the Marketplace Content credit history report (Insights > Purchase & order reports > Content credit history). OverDrive’s Accounting team will apply these funds toward invoices for other Databases & Streaming Media services.

Beginning April 30, 2021, users will see the following message on the RBdigital platform about this upcoming change:

As of May 18, 2021, the digital services offered here will move to the Libby app (some exceptions may apply). The RBdigital app will be retired on May 20, 2021.

RBdigital app users will receive an error message when attempting to open the app after May 20, 2021.

After the RBdigital app is shut down on May 20, 2021, a returning user who opens the RBdigital app will receive a message that “an error has occurred.”

Users will be able to discover this content from a new “Extras” link and graphic on the home page of your library’s collection in Libby. After tapping on “Extras,” users will see a listing of all the services your library offers. From there, users can select any of the service providers to learn more and go to the provider’s website to enjoy their content. Once a user accesses this content, their Libby Shelf will display a note about which providers they have active access to, with a direct link to the provider’s service.

Libby will be the primary path for users to discover and access this content.

Some providers require or request that users create a secondary account. If a user creates a secondary account with any of these providers, they may be able to log in to that provider’s site or app directly during their access period.

Libby will be the primary path for users to discover and access this content. We are exploring future options to provide direct links to each provider outside of Libby.

Note that direct links to Universal Class and PressReader should continue to work as expected.

Yes. Any custom URLs created and supplied by Universal Class should continue to work as expected.

Once your Universal Class service is up for annual renewal with OverDrive, custom links provided to your library by Universal Class will continue to work as expected.

Yes. We expect patrons to have continued access to any previous activity in their Universal Class account.

Some providers may require or request that users provide additional information or create an account. For example, Universal Class and IndieFlix require users to create a separate account, including an email address and password. Learn It Live requires users to provide their name, email, and time zone in order to customize their learning experience. PressReader, The Great Courses, LawDepot, and Qello allow users to create accounts, but it is not a requirement for using their service.

For users with active access to any of these services, access may be disrupted after May 20, 2021 when these services are disabled on the RBdigital platform. Once the services are available through OverDrive, users can re-access them via the Libby app.

At this time, we are not planning to provide MARC records for Databases & Streaming Media services.

Pricing for subscription-based services is available in OverDrive Marketplace.

The access fee for Cost-Per-Circ services will vary by provider and is also listed in OverDrive Marketplace.

RBdigital will continue to offer reports on usage of these services in Gateway Admin through June 15, 2021.

OverDrive Marketplace will provide ownership and usage statistics for these services. Note that usage reporting will display overall user access for each provider and not the individual titles that users borrow.

Yes. OverDrive will send an email alert when 80% of the allocated monthly budget for Cost-Per-Circ services has been used.

No. Content accessed via these services will not count against a user’s checkout limit for other OverDrive titles.

In collaboration with these third-party providers, OverDrive will provide basic support for each of these services via Libby’s existing user support flow. Many of the providers also offer their own end user help and support resources.

You can visit this page for more information, training resources, and marketing tools to help you promote these services to your community.