Library Staff Directory
Posted Dec 27, 2024
We deeply value the enjoyment and enrichment Hoopla has provided our patrons over the past few years. However, due to rising costs associated with the service, we have had to reassess how we offer Hoopla.
If you use Hoopla through your Milwaukee County Federated Library System card, you may experience some service changes. Beginning January 1, 2025, we will be reducing the number of Hoopla borrows from four to two each month.
We know that Hoopla is a popular service, with the ability to check out eBooks, audiobooks, comics, music, TV shows, and movies. Unfortunately, as its popularity continues to grow, the costs continue to surpass our budget limits. We believe this change in checkouts will help us to use our limited resources fairly to serve everyone.
How Hoopla works - Libraries that offer Hoopla instant borrows agree to pay a fee for each item that patrons check out. Check out quantities and costs can vary greatly, making the service unpredictable to budget. To provide some context, each Hoopla checkout currently costs $2.38. In 2024 alone, we anticipate approximately 166,800 checkouts across the Milwaukee County system. If our system were to maintain the four check out offering, the projected cost for 2025 would be around $470,000.
Bonus Borrows - Hoopla now offers “Bonus Borrows” the last seven days of each month! Bonus Borrows are a way to access content at the end of the month if you are running low on borrows! These do not count toward your monthly limit.
Other Options - We also invite you to explore the library’s additional digital content offerings. Wisconsin’s Digital Library (Libby) offers e-books, e-audiobooks and e-magazines. An check out Kanopy for a great selection of streaming movies and documentaries.
The Milwaukee County Federated Library System member libraries carefully deliberated this decision, aiming to provide budgetary control while minimizing user inconvenience. Our commitment remains to offer sustainable and high-quality resources to our community. We appreciate your understanding as we work towards finding the most viable solutions while ensuring fiscal responsibility.
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