It’s basically Libby on steroids. So cool. I had no idea this existed before doing research for my next YT video.
As a Librarian, Hoopla is great except for the fact that the company running it charges crazy prices and it’s starting to become a real problem for library systems. Every thing you check out has a rental fee and then they make us repurchase the item after every 20-30 borrows. Compare that to regular books which can have 100+ borrows before needing to even be mended.
It’s wonderful and I’m glad it exists but it’s getting very costly.
Oh, that’s good to know. How does it compare to Kanopy?
I don’t have the same level of knowledge on the costs of Kanopy mostly because it doesn’t garner the same level of attention in our system so it isn’t a topic that’s come up. But I’ll check in on that. Hoopla came up cause we have cut the borrows down from 10 a month to 6 and it’s now only for county residents not reciprocal borrowers as well. And we often don’t have some of the best items available because of the additional costs.
Ah, that makes sense. I knew that HD limits downloads based on library policies, just didn’t connect that that was due to higher cost, but that’s important context for what I’m talking about as one of the reasons I recommend some of these services is that using them means you’re using your library. (Very important in a time when libraries are being defunded.)
Yes very true. We’re all happy to have Hoopla in my system it’s just so hard to plan around because it’s not a flat cost and we know there are though choices to make because we’d love to be able to offer more and better items through them but that only drives higher costs. I just wish they stopped the silliness of needing to purchase “new copies” so often. It might not be all on them, i know distributers are still very weird with all of the e-resources but it’s still silly.
Also check out Kanopy! TV and movies, also free with your library membership. There’s a little overlap with Hoopla but I’ve found different selections when I check both.
I’ve got it on the list of apps to research for my video. Looks like it’s more documentary/art house type content. Is that fair to say?
While it does have a decent amount of mainstream films, it does seem to lean toward indie and art house content, yes.
My library has determined that Hoopla is too expensive and uses Kanopy, instead.
Thank you for the info. I’ll include that recommendation in my video.
wait until you learn about Libby
Shut up and take my (tax) money.
Hoopla is cool, but its expensive for your library. Libby is better for all parties
Do you still have to wait in line to check things out like Libby? I hated having to wait 17 weeks for the next Lord of the rings audiobook to be available in the app
Hoopla doesn’t have a wait for their items but your library might not have the best items. Ours just made things like the Lord of the Rings books available for the next 3 months since we have some budget available and chose to use it that way. But those popular items cost a lot with Hoopla so most libraries probably don’t carry them.
Yup. The hold system is still there.
There is z-library.sk for those moments.
