Kanopy and Hoopla are two free ways that you can watch movies and TV shows online with your library card! If you haven’t used either of these, now is your chance to try. If you have, there are some changes that may help you navigate and enjoy your viewing experience further.
Kanopy
Kanopy is a streaming platform where you can watch videos. Kanopy focuses on classic, documentary, and independent films that are available instantly, with automatic returns and no late fees. Tickets are used to play Kanopy films. Library cardholders can use up to 20 tickets per month.
Kanopy works on a cost per checkout basis, meaning the more it is used, the more the library pays. In addition to the individual ticket limit, there is now a collective monthly budget limit to help manage costs. This spending limit helps make costs more predictable. When the limit is hit, you will see a banner at the top of the site saying “Streaming is currently limited at your library's request.” The budget limit resets on the first of the month.
We have added a collection of 0 ticket videos that you can watch at any time. You can stream these videos as many times as you want without counting against your monthly ticket limit. Here’s how you can locate them:
- These are primarily the subscription titles in “Easy Watching” and “Favorites.”
- The two unlimited access collections will appear on the homepage for browsing.
- You can also locate videos that use 0 tickets in the search filters
Video titles in this collection include:
If you are looking for more streaming video content, you might want to try Hoopla, also free with your library card.
Hoopla
Hoopla is a digital collection of streaming videos, comics, and music available instantly, with automatic returns and no late fees. Multnomah County Library cardholders are able to check out movies and TV shows for three days, music albums for seven days, and digital comics for 21 days. There is a limit of 10 loans a month per cardholder
Hoopla is also using a collective budget limit to help manage library costs. Like Kanopy, Hoopla works on a cost per checkout basis, meaning the more it is used, the more we pay. This budget cap helps make costs more predictable for the library.
The daily budget limit resets at midnight every day. When the library reaches the daily limit, you’ll see a message that says “The collective daily borrow limit set by your library has been reached and will reset at midnight. Please browse and add titles to favorites so you can easily access them after midnight.”
Try borrowing titles early in the day to ensure access.