Butler library system places restrictions on popular Hoopla service
As the saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and that also applies to e-books, movies, TV shows and comics.
The Butler County Federated Library System, which oversees all nine public libraries in Butler County, announced some cutbacks to the use of its popular Hoopla service, which grants library cardholders free access to a selection of digital media.
Starting in September, cardholders can now borrow up to five titles per month, a decrease from six originally allowed. In addition, some titles that would cost the library system more to lend out, such as newer releases, will be pulled from access unless the library specifically requests they be made available.
In a Facebook post Wednesday morning, Aug. 6, the Butler Area Public Library suggested patrons make donations to ensure the county library system can continue to support Hoopla into the future.
The reason for the changes, according to library system director Krista Conway, is the increasing popularity of the Hoopla service.
“It is a catch-22,” Conway said. “Our use is steadily increasing, but so has the costs. We have been discussing what to do about Hoopla.”
Each year, the library system sets an annual budget for administering its Hoopla system. This year’s budget was $65,000. However, the increasing popularity of Hoopla has driven the costs of running the service over budget halfway through the year.
“It’s gone over budget because the usage has gone up and doubled from last year,” Conway said.
The reason: in order for cardholders to be able to borrow popular digital media — such as movies, TV shows, e-books, audiobooks and comic books for free — the library system pays Hoopla for each time an item is checked out, even if the user doesn’t read, watch or listen to it.
“A lot of people didn't realize that if they check out a book and they don’t read it, it’s still being charged to us,” Conway said.
In addition, there now is a daily and monthly cap on how many titles the library system can lend out, although Conway isn’t sure what the exact number is.
“Those numbers have been changed twice already, and I'm still in talks with Hoopla about changing those numbers again,” Conway said. “We’re trying to cap it at 6,000 per month.”
The monthly cap is split up and staggered among the nine libraries in the system, meaning one library may be given more daily and monthly borrows than another.
“The trickle-down per library is different amounts,” Conway said. “It ends up not being great for a couple of our libraries. A few of our patrons end up just being able to get one borrow.”
For cardholders, Hoopla does provide several alternatives to the traditional library borrowing process. BingePass gives unlimited access to materials for seven days for the cost of one borrow, while a SeasonPass offers an entire season of television for one borrow. Bonus borrows are a limited selection of titles available on Hoopla at the end of the month that do not count against the borrowing limit.
In an unrelated situation, Hoopla experienced a service outage for Butler County cardholders around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 7.
