Catherine Coles
Coles Notes
You no longer have to leave the comfort of your home and bother with putting on pants to access great, free movies and other materials at the library.
Hoopla Digital is basically free Netflix (except with a wider variety of “stuff” beyond movies/television) – all you need is a Lennox & Addington library card! There are no wait times, no overdue fines and (with Netflix jacking up their prices again!), did I mention that it’s free? The only catch is that you are currently limited to five items per month. The following is just a small selection of some of the more popular titles available.
Movies
Some of the most critically acclaimed movies in recent years are available on Hoopla. Call Me by Your Name, for example, won the Academy Award this year for Best Adapted Screenplay but also received several additional nominations. Set in the Italian countryside circa 1983, it follows a teenage boy who falls in love with a young man living with his family for the summer.
I, Tonya can also be found on Hoopla. Depicting the rise and fall of controversial figure skater Tonya Harding, this movie received a pile of acting awards earlier this year. Book clubs may be interested in watching the film adaptation of A Man Called Ove. Also very popular on Hoopla, although significantly less critically acclaimed, is The Commuter starring Liam Neeson. This is an action movie where Neeson finds himself unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy that carries life and death stakes for everyone on a commuter train.
If you, or more likely your children/grandchildren, are into kids’ movies, Hoopla has a lot to offer in this category as well. All told, there are over 9000 movies to choose from, including 900 kids’ offerings and plenty of holiday films. You can watch these movies on your computer, from your tablet or smart phone, or you can use your Chromecast to broadcast to a television.
Audiobooks
A lot of users prefer to use our Overdrive platform for the e-book and audiobook borrowing needs, but if you are someone who can’t stand to wait, Hoopla might be a good option for you.
Also, it was recently announced that Hoopla is now compatible with Amazon Alexa. Say “Alexa – ask Hoopla to play my audiobook” and you are on your way. Some of the most popular audiobooks on Hoopla currently are by British mystery novelist Lisa Jewell. Her most recent novel, Then She Was Gone, has been one of the most frequently reserved books at the library this year – in any format! It’s available on Hoopla, alongside several of her backlist titles.
Self-help is also big on Hoopla. You’ll find several books by Brene Brown, Girl Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis, The Year of Less by Cait Flanders, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo and more diet books than you’ll ever know what to do with.
E-Books
Hoopla has over 250,000 e-books available, so you’ll have a lot to work with in this category. Currently, the most popular among our patrons are The Lost Castle, a clean historical romance by Kristy Cambron; The Darkest Mind by Alexandra Bracken, a young Adult dystopian novel; and Quick Keto Meals in 30 Minutes of Less, a cookbook aimed at people on the trendy Keto diet. There are also plenty of children’s books represented, including favourites by Rick Riordan, Shel Silverstein and Jeff Kinney.
Music
Hoopla’s music options are also compatible with Amazon Alexa. From Drake to Taylor Swift to the Mamma Mia soundtrack, there are nearly 300,000 albums to choose from. Locally, the most downloaded album is Divide by Ed Sheeran.
Television
Like British TV mysteries? Hoopla has Doc Martin, Agatha Christie’s Family Murder Party, and Vera (based on books by Ann Cleaves). Want kids’ stuff? There is Arthur, Sesame Street and Max & Ruby.
Interested in docu-series? Hoopla has a lot of Ken Burns’ titles and plenty of others from PBS and National Geographic. Looking to for a free work out? There are piles of Jillian Michaels and Mari Windsor programs at your fingertips.
To learn more about Hoopla Digital, visit www.hoopladigital.com or visit the County of Lennox & Addington Library website at www.countylibrary.ca.