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 and no overdue fines. 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
You’ll find an awesome film selection on Hoopla, from contemporary classics and foreign films to documentaries and recent award winners…but don’t worry, there is plenty of low-brow stuff too. The most popular movie currently on Hoopla is the 2018 Mongrel documentary RBG, which chronicles Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s exceptional life. 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 9,000 movies to choose from, including 1,000 kids’ offerings. 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 their 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. Some of the most popular audiobooks on Hoopla currently are The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (the brand new entry in The Hunger Games series), The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, and The Last Story of Mina Lee (Reese’s latest book club pick). Self-help is also big on Hoopla. You’ll find several books by Brené 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 library patrons are Disloyal, the brand new memoir by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen; The Last Flight, a fast-paced thriller and Julie Staff Pick; and The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante, a much-anticipated novel and soon-to-be Netflix series. There are also plenty of children’s books represented, including favourites by Rick Riordan, Shel Silverstein, Jeff Kinney, and let’s not forget Pete the Cat.
Music
You can listen to music from within the app or cast to any speaker device. From Carrie Underwood to The Weeknd to Machine Gun Kelly, there are nearly 300,000 albums to choose from. Locally, the most downloaded album is Folklore, a new album by Taylor Swift.
Television
Like British TV mysteries? Hoopla has Doc Martin, Agatha Christie’s Marple, and Vera (based on books by Ann Cleeves). 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. You can also register for a workshop that we have coming up at the library called What’s All The Hoopla. It will take you through all of the ins and outs of navigating the database and downloading items. It will be held at both Amherstview and Napanee Branches on October 6th at 3pm. Register at http://picktime.com/LandALibraries