Monday, April 3, 2017

Important Information about Hoopla

Dear Patrons,

The library has always taken pride in how carefully we listen to feedback from our patrons. Over the last several months, patrons have shared their disappointment with not being able to access content consistently on Hoopla, one of our eLibrary resources.

We hear your frustration when you can’t check out the materials you want because Hoopla has reached its lending limit.  It is important to understand there is a cost associated with each checkout of Hoopla materials and the lending limit prevents the library from overspending its budget for digital content.

We are fortunate to have patrons who are enthusiastic users of all of our collections and resources, including Hoopla.  Unfortunately, exponentially increasing costs for Hoopla services are unsustainable.

Forsyth County Public Library will discontinue Hoopla on April 27, 2017.

New eAudiobooks Available Now

Funds budgeted for Hoopla are already being reallocated to growing other permanent eLibrary collections, such as eAudiobooks and eBooks that are more frequently requested by patrons.

By far the most popular format on Hoopla has been eAudiobooks, and those patrons will be pleased to know that our Materials team has already acquired thousands of new titles for download in OneClickdigital.

We apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause.  If you need assistance finding new materials in the eLibrary or using a mobile device to access materials, our staff will be glad to help. Please stop by the Ask Us desk or Ask a Librarian.

Thank you for being a patron of the library.

Sincerely,

Anna Lyle
Director



9 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a terrible shame!!!!! If I understand it correctly, you can no longer watch movies, or listen to music on Hoopla!!!! Is this correct?????

Anonymous said...

Last year you discontinued the best serviced eaudiobook and replaced it with the dysfunctional oneclick digital. It took a month after its release before 100 titles were available. I went through all one hundred titles and couldn't find a single title I'd want to read. Of course Hoopla was overwhelmed because it was the last source that had any titles of substance. My most recent search of one click digital revealed so few titles. Try to find a mass circulation title by someone like clive cussler you will find 1 or 2 titles. So, then try classics....great gatsby, Jane eyre, or John steinbeck.....nothing! So, maybe kids titles like artemis fowl or series of unfortunate events....nothing again. I'm so disappointed with the process and decisions that have taken place with the audio book availability at the Forsyth county library. It's just dismal.

FCPL said...

Thank you both for your comments. We appreciate you sharing your concerns and we value your feedback. We acknowledge that the transition has not always been the smoothest and we hope that the process continues to improve. We are working quickly to grow our eAudiobook collection on OneClickdigital and new titles are purchased each week. We hope you'll consider giving it another try.

Book Lover said...

If I understand correctly, we eliminated Hoopla because it was too popular? I enjoyed the books and the listening experience and it is a shame that the decision was made to stop the service. I couldn't always get the books when I wanted them but they were available. This is very disappointing news.

FCPL said...

Thank you for sharing how you enjoyed using the service. eAudiobooks are the most popular items on Hoopla and our staff is working hard to grow our OneClickdigital eAudiobook collection so patrons can continue to find and enjoy the books they want. We hope you'll give it a try and we invite you to stop by the Ask Us desk of your local FCPL branch if you need assistance finding materials.

Nikki said...

I am extremely disappointed by this news. I agree with the previous comments - Hoopla is the only audiobook source I found with titles I was interested in. I just checked OneClick on an entire list of Christian authors I like to read and came up empty. As a mom of young kids, audiobooks are my lifeline. What can we do to reallocate or raise funds to get this service back?

FCPL said...

Hi, Nikki. Thank you for sharing your experience with Hoopla. We understand your disappointment. Our Materials team continues to add new titles to OneClickdigital and we welcome patron feedback about the collection.

Would you mind sharing the names of the authors you like to read? You can leave a comment here or email me privately at gloverp@forsythpl.org and I’ll be glad to share your suggestions with the Materials team as they add new titles to OneClickdigital.

Thank you for being a patron of the library,
Paula Glover
FCPL Public Services

Nikki said...

Hi Paula. Thank you for your response. I have emailed you a list of authors and titles of interest. Thank you for your help!

FCPL said...

Got it! Thanks for such a thoughtful listing of materials on a range of topics. I'll pass it on to our Materials team now.