There are many different electronic services to cater to our entertainment needs. Want music? Try Spotify, Apple Music, or Tidal. Want movies and TV shows? There are plenty, including big names like Netflix, Disney+, and Max. Want to enjoy comics and books? Marvel Unlimited, DC Universe, Kindle Unlimited, and more.
But what if you wanted a service that combined all these options? Would you believe us if we told you it was free? Hoopla is a great app that gives you free access to your local public library. It prides itself on offering more content than any other digital library platform across audiobooks, e-books, comics, movies, TV, magazines, and music. September is library card sign-up month, so if you’re a new library card holder or just not familiar with the app yet, here’s a guide to everything Hoopla has to offer.
Hoopla: Home of audiobooks and e-books
Hoopla has a strong relationship with libraries, so it’s no surprise that they have a wide selection of audiobooks and e-books. They have a 21-day loan period. You can read or listen to stories from popular series like The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. There are also many books that have been adapted into TV series and movies, such as The Three-Body Problem, Wool (Silo), Kindred, and Slow Horses.
Photo: IDW
Hoopla: Home of Comics and Manga
Hoopla boasts a large comics library with books from some of the biggest publishers in the industry. You’ll find everything from classic graphic novels to the latest releases from Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, and more. The selection is primarily made up of collections, but BOOM! Studios and IDW also offer individual issues. A new focus for the platform is expanding its manga selection, with books from Kodansha, Tokyopop, Udon Entertainment, and eigoMANGA currently on offer.
Like e-books, you can borrow for 21 days, which is a nice bonus: you don’t have to wait nearly as long to get a graphic novel from the store until it hits Hoopla — compared to six months for DC Universe’s annual and monthly plans, and three months at most for Marvel Unlimited. The app might not have all the comics you’re looking for, but it does have a solid foundation that will keep you entertained for a long time.
Hoopla: Home of Movies
Hoopla’s movie section won’t be mistaken for a popular streaming service, but it has movies from the Golden Age to the present day, with a good balance of critically acclaimed titles, fan favorites, and even B-movies. There’s also a good selection of ’80s and ’90s movies, plenty of Kevin Smith and Jean-Claude Van Damme movies, and a full A24 section. With Halloween fast approaching, there’s also a good selection of horror movies, with several Shudder Originals included. You’ll have three days to return your rentals, so act fast.
Hoopla: The home of music
This platform is the best place to listen to albums with songs from artists like Sabrina Carpenter, Chapel Roan, and Taylor Swift. Don’t like pop music? There are many genres to explore and you can take advantage of the best albums from your favorite bands and solo artists. Surprisingly, there is also a surprising selection of original soundtracks and comedy albums. Listen to stand-up comedy from greats like Richard Pryor, Rodney Dangerfield, and Bob Newhart.
Photo: Emmanuel Gimier/AMC
Hoopla: The home of TV
Hoopla has a great selection of quality TV series, including many from AMC and its affiliated networks. There are several shows from The Walking Dead available, Anne Rice’s Immortalverse shows, as well as the underrated Dark Winds, Into the Badlands, and Gangs of London. There’s also a small sampling of Warner Bros. Discovery’s Rick and Morty, Miracle Workers, and Tacoma FD.
Feeling nostalgic? There are quite a few Saturday morning cartoons like Beetlejuice and Inspector Gadget. Of course, there are also a number of classic Nickelodeon shows like Rugrats and Hey Arnold. There are also some deep video games you may not remember, like The Legend of Zelda, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, and Captain N: Game Master. You can also find anime series like One Piece, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Naruto. Many of the versions are dubbed in English, but there are also a few with subtitles.
Like movies, TV shows are only available for rental for three days. Another drawback is that you have to rent episodes at a time, not the entire series. As you can imagine, if you only want to watch one season, this can quickly eat up your monthly allotment.
Hoopla: Make your borrowed money last longer
As mentioned above, Hoopla doesn’t offer unlimited use. There are limits to the number of checkouts your local public library will allow, but there are ways to make the most of it. First, the app offers BingePass, which gives you unlimited access to certain content for seven days per checkout. This covers a one-week subscription to streaming platform Hallmark+, access to a variety of magazines, multiple seasons of Pokémon episodes, a ton of word and number games, and more.
Secondly, if you’ve exhausted your borrowing allotment, wait until the last 7 days of the month to take advantage of our Bonus Borrowing Program. During this time, you’ll have access to a specially curated selection of titles across all media, even if you don’t use your monthly instant borrow. This can really help you out until your allotment resets.
A final word about Hoopla.
Hoopla isn’t the be-all and end-all of entertainment platforms. It does have its downsides, too: a limited number of monthly loans limits its use. And a bigger problem is that the service isn’t available at all public libraries. But if you do have access, it offers a wide range of options at a great price (it’s free!), and features like BingePass and Bonus Borrows make it even more useful.
