It's Cold - What to Do? Libby vs Hoopla

​Sitting here in my warm living room I am reluctant to venture outside as the temperature is 11 degrees with a windchill of -18. Couple that with the rising cases in flu, florona ect. and staying inside seems to be a smart hedge bet that many families are adhering to. The problem is WHAT TO DO????  I have read all my books, watched my DVD’s and really don’t want to pay anymore fees for streaming services. I love the library but with limited hours and not wanting to be out with people this is also problematic. But what if you could have your local library wherever you are or go – look no farther – by using Hoopla or Libby you can do just that.

Hoopla calls itself a library media streaming platform while Libby is an Ebook/audiobook app which limits readers to only written (or recorded) material. All you need is a library card, a wi-fi connection and a laptop/E-reader/tablet or phone. Both apps are completely free, and the content is free as it is owned by the library. The biggest pluses, no spyware, no ads and no chance of viruses.

Both platforms, while similar are different in the way they let users borrow titles, titles referring to any ebook, CD, TV show, book, movie etc. Hoopla allows users to enjoy ebooks, music, tv shows, comics and movies while Libby is books or audiobooks only. Hoopla is an immediate download and only allows you to download a certain number of books per month (Concord library is set at 4) while Libby is unlimited (although you can have only 3 checked out items at a time) but may put you on a wait list until other readers have finished the book you are interested in. With Hoopla you can also enjoy movies, music, comic books, magazines (each has their own return by time limit) plus one of my favorites Masterclasses. The nice thing is there are no late fees if you forget to return it as it is automatically returned for you.  While you would think you could just use one of these services (and you could, I mean just in the featured section of books in Hoopla there are 118023 books to choose from) you will find certain books on one service and not the other. Libby seems to add books that never go away while Hoopla seems to be similar to Netflix in that certain title are only there for a period of time. 

Joining is easy. Go to either website, look for your local library and all that is required is an email address, password and library card information and you're in and can start borrowing immediately. Once downloaded you can read in the native app or on the Kindle and once downloaded it is on your device so there is no need for Wi-Fi.