A while ago, I posted a thread on library services. In that thread, I learned about services like Hoopla and Kanopy that had TV series and movies to borrow for free with a library card. Hoopla also has ebooks, audiobooks and comics. Now that many libraries are shut down, these services are a good way to get books without having to buy them.
Since then, I’ve been using those services a lot. I’ve found that many of the TV series on Hoopla, particularly the ones I watch, are British and are from Acorn TV, but there’s a pretty big diversity of stuff. I’ve been enjoying Murdoch Mysteries, A Place to Call Home, The Outpost,Striking Out, The Librarians and Humans, just to name a few.
For the months of April and May 2020, because of Covid-19, Hoopla is allowing people to borrow certain items without using their credits from the library. I found a new TV series I’m liking called *Still Standing *by Jonny Harris. It’s about small towns in Canada where he goes to meet the people in the town and does a stand-up comedy performance at the end. Only the first of 4 seasons is free until the end of May.
To find the bonus borrows, type in ‘more bonus borrows’ in the search bar. I’m guessing everyone has the same list since I can see it when I’m logged out. For me, the listhas 1,658 items. Before you borrow anything, be sure that it says in the description that this is one of the items you can borrow without using a credit. Each item that qualifies will say that. Otherwise, it will subtract from your monthly credit total.
What’s your favorite Hoopla items? I’m partial to TV series and movies, so I’d be most interested about those. But if you have a favorite item on Hoopla, please share.
You need to watch Line of Duty. The best and I mean THE BEST police procedural (for lack of a better term) ever. British, of course. Only series 1 is on Hoopla and there are 5 series in total.
Looks interesting. Thanks! I’ll add it to my list. In case anyone doesn’t have Hoopla or Kanopy, it’s also on TubiTV, PlutoTV and the Roku Channel, all with ads.
Thanks! I just looked it up on Hoopla. There are all 5 seasons on Hoopla. I’ve been considering getting Acorn TV, and it’s on there as well. I’ll check out the first episode on Hoopla.
Hoopla is awesome I read watch & listen on my iPhone. They upped our limit to 10 recently then added the free borrows. I’m hooked. So many in the last several weeks can’t recall and they don’t keep your history. I do what I like.
Just listened to Harry Potter book I, and dramatizations of LOTR trilogy. Voice Actors along with Audio special effects it was a lot of fun to listen to. Highly recommend for any one say ages 8 and up.
Not a bonus borrow but listening g also to Call the Midwives by Memoirsnof Jennifer Worth, it’s unabridged and read so sweetly so was a little explicit at times and uh wow still a wonderful series as well
It sucks that neither Hoopla or Kanopy are available for the NYPL. I used to be able to use Kanopy and then last summer they stopped their affiliation with NYC. Great timing.
Me too! I’ve been really having a great time with justwatch.com. I look for shows on the Roku Channel that I can get for free. There’s also an option to look up all the shows from free providers (with ads) when I created an account. I don’t use that much, but I do like picking all the services I have, highlighting them and then finding out what I can watch. I don’t need to log in for that.
Lucky! I have about that many borrows but I had to string together a couple library cards to get it.
Nice! Harry Potter book 1 is also available on Overdrive, no waiting, for this month.
It looks good. I’m adding it to my list. Thank you for the suggestion. Hoopla has both an audiobook version and a TV show version. I might go for the TV shows. I wonder how different they are.
Thanks for the suggestions. Wow, Imprint looks just wow. Here’s a snip of the description on Hoopla.
Yowza. It’s also available on TubiTV for free with ads for people who don’t have Hoopla.
They’re now on my list. Both of these are on Kanopy. I don’t use my Kanopy credits as fast as my Hoopla credits, so I’ll probably watch it there. Thanks again.
That’s a bummer. I’m infuriated on your behalf (even if you aren’t ;)). I think library media services should be available to everyone because it’s generally the wealthier neighborhoods that have the most services, and I don’t think that’s fair. I wrote a thread about it. There were some exceptions to the rule in that thread. How’s your Overdrive? [library ebook service and wealth inequality] In post 36 of that thread, Bleach23 says that NYC public library is constrained by budgets. I get that, but I don’t think that’s how it should work.
Maybe you’ve already looked into this, but here’s a map of Hoopla participating libraries. Hoopla participating libraries. If you live or work in one of those areas, you might be able to get a card from that library. For instance, Westchester library has Hoopla, Kanopy and Overdrive. If you don’t live or work in Westchester, you still might be able to get their services if you’re a member of their participating member list of libraries. Or you could pay for a yearly membership for $75 or $35 for seniors. (it’s suspended for the moment because of Covid-19) But that sort of negates the whole point of having a free library card. Anyone could subscribe to Scribd and Netflix for that price. I just picked Westchester literally at random. There might be libraries closer to you on the Hoopla map.
New York State library offers a free card to all NY state residents, but I don’t know if that gives you much.
In some states, you can get a free card for any library in the state. It doesn’t look like New York is one of those states.
Good luck finding more resources. It took me a year and 9 phone calls to get the library card I wanted. But now I use it every day, so it was worth it to me.
what I like.
I’ve been really having a great time with