Here is a copy of an email posted to the listserv by Kathy Pearce

SUMMARY OF EBSCO SITUATION—
First of all—don’t panic! Michael York from the state library is eager to work with us to retain all of the current EBSCO databases for all school libraries. We are also talking with the state DOE to see if they can offer any funding or assistance to offset costs and at creative funding options such as grants and stimulus funding.

The gap that the state library needs to close is $64,000. One scenario that Michael York suggests is to ask 256 school libraries to each pay $250 which would close the gap and give access to all. We are still working on coming up with more details as to how this would work, and this is not a final plan, but it gives you an idea of what could be done to address the situation.

Michael York’s plan raised several questions:
•    Will school libraries that can’t pay have access? yes.
•    What will happen to any surplus we collect? One option: the Park Street Foundation could retain any extra money in escrow to offset costs for the following year. There could be other scenarios that we could explore as well. Your suggestions would be welcome.
•    Could schools that are able pay extra? Probably. Again, we still need to work out the details of how payment would work.
•    What about Biography Resource Center? Michael is hopeful that this resource will be reinstated at some point, but right now EBSCO is the priority.

If you are relatively sure that your school would be able to contribute $250 (remember that this is still a hypothetical scenario—final details/prices to come), please contact Michael York michael.york@dcr.nh.gov so he can begin to get an idea of how many libraries can help out.

Please stay tuned for further updates about the situation. We realize that this has been a stressful and uncertain time and that people need to plan out their resources and budgets for next year. Understand that you may need to set aside a few hundred dollars, but that the earlier figures thrown around that were in the thousands are not realistic.