Pay-per-view (PPV) e-books are a viable new business model for cost-effective delivery of online content to library users. As global recession negatively impacts the library's budget, we must seek new ways to make our dollar go further and challenge the traditional role of the academic library as a ‘just in case’ collection vs. a ‘just in time’ service provider. The University of Texas Libraries has invested two years in a pilot program for PPV e-book delivery with Ebook Library Corporation as the primary corporate partner. This article discusses the parameters, developments and challenges of the pilot, as well as potential new directions for using PPV services to augment traditional collection development.