The Thunder Bay Public Library is combinging its digital collection into one service in one location.
Over the past month, the Library has been transitioning its digital collections, including ebooks, audiobooks, enews, emagazines and ecomics, as well as streaming video and music from the various platforms it used previously to Hoopla, a service which offers these collections in a single spot and integrates with the Library’s catalogue.
“We began the transition in mid-March,” said Head Librarian Ruth Hamlin-Douglas. “Patrons who use our digital collections had a two-week outage while the licenses were moved from the previous platforms into Hoopla, and started to see materials arriving on hoopla on April 1. Our existing licenses have now been transferred, and Hoopla has been integrated with our catalogue, so patrons can search our entire collection, physical and digital, using our website.”
By combining the services, the library is saving on platform fees they were originally paying to use each different service.
The additional savings are being used to invest in more digital licenses.
“Over the coming months, patrons will notice regular growth in the materials available through both the Instant and the Flex collections they browse on Hoopla,” added Hamlin-Douglas. “We are regularly reviewing patron suggestions submitted through the system and adding new titles. We’ll now be able to grow our digital collection faster than we would have otherwise, constantly improving our patrons’ experience without breaking the bank.”
The new Hoopla service is available to everyone with a full-service library card in good standing.
To learn more, click here.
