One of the best parts of this time of year is looking back at the best media from the past twelve months and sharing it with others who will love it as much as you do. And on hoopla, the sharing is easy, because patrons can check out a title and start enjoying it right away! We’ve put together collections of the most-borrowed titles of 2019 in our video, music, audiobook, eBook, and comics formats. Your patrons can browse these collections and get caught up on the hottest titles of the year. Our resource center contains a number of digital files you can display around your library and on social media to let everyone know about these popular collections. So spread the word, and be sure to let us know what you and your patrons are enjoying as 2019 comes to a close.
What's New
New Year’s Eve Party Playlist
New Year’s resolutions can be serious business…but before they start, New Year’s Eve offers one last chance for everyone to live it up! It’s one of the most popular nights of the year to gather with friends and family and celebrate the year coming to a close and to welcome the new one with a bang. While hoopla may not be able to help your patrons with decorations or invitations to their New Year’s celebrations, you better believe we have them covered with the perfect party playlist! Our music experts have put together a collection of music that is just right for an end-of-year celebration. With hoopla’s “shuffle borrowed albums” feature, patrons can borrow a selection of albums that fit the vibe they’re looking for and let hoopla act as DJ for the night’s festivities. So make sure your patrons know about the vast collection of music available to them from hoopla, and help them ring in 2020 in style!
New Year, New You
Now that the calendar has flipped over to December, the holiday season is officially in full swing. While there is plenty of time for celebrating all the joys of the season, now is the perfect time for patrons to start thinking about New Year’s resolutions. The beginning of a new year is seen as a time to start a productive new habit or drop one you’d like to leave behind. As many as 40% of people will make New Year’s resolutions, and hoopla is here to help your patrons keep them. Our content specialists have put together collections of audiobooks, eBooks, music, and videos meant to help and inspire users as they strive to make changes in their lives. And you can help! Just check out our downloadable assets that you can use on your social media pages or print and display around your library so patrons know about all the resources available to them on hoopla as they look toward 2020.
Thankful for Our Library Partners!
All of us here at hoopla are thankful for the great work done by public libraries all year long, but we are especially touched by your impact during this special time of year.
As gathering places during the holidays, public libraries help communities flourish: children come in for holiday story time and craft making, and patrons exchange season’s greetings with neighbors, waving “hello” to familiar faces they’ve seen all year—even if they don’t know their names.
Now and always, we remain dedicated to serving you and your community as we move forward into the New Year together. Thank you for your continued support.
Star Wars on hoopla!
The very first Star Wars movie came to the big screen in 1977, and the popularity of the saga has been growing ever since. Fans and patrons are always interested in all things Star Wars, and hoopla delivers with comics and eBooks that expand the adventures, soundtracks from the movies and TV shows, and much more. And with the first season of The Mandalorian (the first live-action Star Wars TV show) in progress now and The Rise of Skywalker in theaters in December, Star Wars is going to be in demand like never before. Make sure your patrons know that with hoopla, they can explore the galaxy far, far away with no holds, no waiting, and no late fees!
Christmas for Kids!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas is coming, and hoopla makes it easy for little ones to experience the magic of the season—either with their family or on their own! There are movies and shows to watch by the fire with cups of hot cocoa, comics, eBooks, and audiobooks perfect for bedtime or anytime, music that will have kids singing along, and so much more. And don’t forget, with Kids Mode, young patrons can explore the titles on hoopla that are just right for them. On the hoopla Resource Center, we’ve provided graphics you can print and display around your library, as well as images you can use on your social media pages, to let everyone know about the great Christmas content hoopla has available to make the season merry and bright.
Fall and Holiday Cooking
With autumn in full swing and big holidays like Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas dominating the calendar for the rest of the year, patrons will be looking for help as they plan their family get-togethers or look for a perfect dish to contribute to the celebration. The cookbooks available on hoopla are perfect for any season, helping beginners and experienced chefs alike find just the right recipe, whether it’s for an amazing meal or just a tasty snack. So make sure your patrons are aware of the wide selection of cookbooks hoopla has to offer, for the holidays or for anytime!
Celebrate 15 Years of The Walking Dead
On October 8, 2003, The Walking Dead issue #1 hit comic shops everywhere. Kicking off with small-town sheriff Rick Grimes awakening from a coma in the midst of a burgeoning undead apocalypse, it helped start a snowball effect to begin the zombie craze that is still building to this day. Now, fifteen years later, The Walking Dead is still going strong as a comic series, with issue #184 releasing recently and creator Robert Kirkman saying the end is still “far away off.” It has also spawned a highly popular television show, which just kicked off its ninth season, and a spinoff series, Fear the Walking Dead, whose fourth season ended on September 30.
To celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the first issue’s release, this Saturday, October 13, has been designated as Walking Dead Day. Comic shops everywhere will be taking part with special events and giveaways, but there’s no reason why your library can’t join the fun! With hoopla, longtime Walking Dead fans can revisit favorite issues from the series, while newcomers can start from the beginning and read all the way though! Our collection of Walking Dead comics currently comprises thirty compilations, and will continue to grow as the series continues. It spans from Days Gone Bye, which collects that original first issue, all the way through New World Order, the most recent edition that goes through issue #180, published in June. It also includes the special edition Here’s Negan, exploring the charismatic villain’s backstory, as well as the Survivors’ Guide, an exploration of the series’ characters.
The Walking Dead began its life in the comic format, but it has expanded into other areas of publishing as well. In 2011, Robert Kirkman teamed up with writer Jay Bonansinga for the novel Rise of the Governor, which brought the backstory of that intriguing antagonist to life. It was followed by The Road to Woodbury and The Fall of the Governor Parts 1 and 2 to round out the story arc. From there, Bonansinga continued on with four more novels: Descent, Invasion, Search and Destroy, and Return to Woodbury. Fans of the comic series and the show won’t want to miss these stories that delve into the niches of beloved characters and settings, and the audiobooks linked above are all available on hoopla.
And there’s plenty more Walking Dead content available on hoopla as well—starting with Volume 1 and Volume 2 of the soundtrack to the show, whose musical selection really adds to the haunted atmosphere. In the eBook format, patrons who love trivia will enjoy quiz books that cover the various seasons of the show, as well as an exploration of the comic series, a collection of quick facts about the comics and the show, and even a rumination on the philosophy expounded in the show. Needless to say, whether a patrons is a longtime fan of The Walking Dead or checking it out for the first time, hoopla is the perfect companion for Walking Dead Day!
Transition into Fall with hoopla
Although there are still technically three weeks left in the season, the Labor Day holiday in the U.S. means the unofficial end of summer is upon us. The pools may be closed and school may be back in session, but there’s still plenty to look forward to as the days grow shorter and the leaves start to change color.
Your patrons can count on hoopla for a wide range of back-to-school needs. Educational STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics) titles in audiobook, eBook, television, and even music give kids numerous great ways to find help or simply explore a variety of subjects. Students can also borrow quite a bit of classic literature they may find on their required reading lists, on both eBook and audiobook. And those classics aren’t just for students, of course—they’re great reads for anyone! Along those same lines, adults interested in continuing education or looking to dive into a specific topic can find a collection of STEAM titles geared toward them on hoopla as well.
There’s plenty of other stuff going on that can be enjoyed, enhanced, or celebrated with the great content on hoopla as well. There's still time to check out our hoopla Book Club spotlight selection, Tangerine by Christine Mangan, before our fall title is selected. PBS is conducting the Great American Read in an effort to determine the best-loved novels across the country, and a number of included books are available on hoopla for those who would like to participate (and don’t forget about our selection of great PBS television titles). September is also designated as both Classical Music Month and National Yoga Month, with plenty of related content for patrons to explore. And finally, the annual Banned Books Week event will be observed September 23-29, and you can expect a curated collection of banned and challenged works available on hoopla later in the month.
We hope you and your patrons have a wonderful Labor Day weekend. And remember—although your library may be closed on Monday, patrons can borrow materials and stay connected through hoopla on all their mobile devices. There they’ll find all the content they need for their end-of-summer celebrations, as well as everything that comes next.
Alexa, Meet hoopla!
We have some exciting news to share. hoopla now supports Amazon Alexa devices!
Alexa joins hoopla’s existing lineup of popular apps for iOS and Android devices as well as popular streaming devices including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV. With Alexa, patrons can play borrowed audiobooks and music albums directly on the Amazon Echo, Dot, Spot, and Show devices.
To get hoopla onto their Alexa devices, patrons must add the hoopla “skill” (this is the Alexa equivalent of installing an app from the app store). The skill can be added to Alexa by searching for hoopla Digital on the Amazon website, or by clicking here.
When interacting with hoopla, Alexa requires patrons to phrase the command like this:
“Alexa, ask hoopla…”
For example, “Alexa, ask hoopla how many borrows I have remaining.”
Requests must start with “Alexa, ask hoopla…” If not, Alexa will not know to get the information from hoopla, and will instead return results from Amazon. A complete list of commands can be found on our FAQ page.
Can’t wait to share the news with your patrons? Click here for digital assets, including graphics for social media, email foots, and a 30-second video that shows Alexa and hoopla in action!