County libraries seek Plan B to escape Microsoft contract

Written by Miami Today on August 18, 2026

Trapped by Microsoft’s policy changes, the Miami-Dade Public Library System has made a $1.7 million emergency deal for the corporate giant’s licenses as staff works to figure out what a life without Microsoft in the libraries could look like.

County commissioners agreed to the three-year emergency contract as the library system seeks a long-term deal it can live with while looking at the same time at how to leave the Microsoft world entirely.

“The staff has been directed to start looking for a Plan B [because] we have found that Microsoft has been difficult at best, particularly around the issue” of its educational licensing plan, county Chief Administrative Officer Carladenise Edwards told commissioners in July.

The issue that could cause a break with Microsoft arose when the firm last year changed corporate policy to remove public libraries from their historic operation under Microsoft’s educational licensing program, which provided discounted pricing, Ms. Edwards wrote in a memo explaining the quandary the libraries are in now.

With the shift effective last October, Microsoft required the county to renew the libraries’ licensing to Microsoft’s nonprofit licensing program effective Jan. 31 of this year.

But Microsoft’s guidance about the contract requirements “evolved over time,” Ms. Edwards wrote, first advising the county that it had to get the licenses through an authorized Microsoft reseller but then shifting to say that the licenses had to come directly from Microsoft, not a reseller at all.

“This change materially impacted the county’s procurement strategy and timing,” the memo said. “Given the lack of clear guidance, evolving requirements, and the absence of finalized pricing structures, a replacement contract could not be awarded in a timely manner.”

First the county advertised in a competitive solicitation based on what Microsoft had advised, but then the corporation said that the only way to get the full benefits of its nonprofit program was by working directly with Microsoft. “Accordingly, to preserve discounted pricing and continuity of services, the solicitation was subsequently cancelled,” Ms. Edwards wrote.

The county then tried but failed to negotiate a contract with Microsoft, and the director of the county’s Communications, Information and Technology Department declared an emergency and recommended the three-year, $1.7 million contract with the current reseller because the libraries relied on Microsoft. Meanwhile, the county looks for an escape route.

The library system is funded from property taxes, not the county’s general fund. The current tax rate for taxpayers in the district is 0.2812 mills. The district isn’t countywide – it excludes Bal Harbour, Hialeah, Homestead, Miami Shores, North Miami, North Miami Beach and Surfside, all of which operate their own libraries. Still, the system today lists 51 individual locations.

The libraries’ issue with Microsoft is “not unique to Miami-Dade County. This was a policy they put in place nationally that changed the definition of nonprofit that impacted our libraries,” Ms. Edwards told commissioner last month.”

“And so staff has been directed to look at what we would do in the future,” she said. “The three years gives us time because, as you all know, we have been using Microsoft for a very, very long time. That will not be a smooth or easy transition if we’re unable to negotiate with them and have to find a different resource.”