eBooks

Hoopla Bonus Borrows Coming Soon!

Thanks to my long list of romance authors I want to check out, I have been what I would consider a heavy Hoopla user this year – and I still forget to take advantage of my bonus borrows! This is a great feature Hoopla offers that your patrons – and maybe staff! – probably need a reminder about.

In the last week of every month, Hoopla offers a selection of titles as bonus borrows. These can be checked out with ZERO cost to the library and, since it counts as a bonus, it doesn’t use up one of the 5 checkout spots. Sure, you’re not able to freely browse – this is a curated collection offered up by Hoopla, but it includes eBooks, audiobooks, comics, TV, movies, and a BingePass, so there’s something for everybody.

So maybe you’re about to go on vacation and want to squeeze in a TV show on your days off. Maybe you’ve got a patron just trying to get a little extra on their summer reading challenge. This month, bonus borrows are available from July 25th – July 31st, so you’ve got time to start spreading the word! If you check out Hoopla’s resource center (an incredible service in its own right that I also forget to take full advantage of!), they’ve got graphics you can post to your social media or display around your libraries.

-Jaime @ Penn Hills Library

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New “Content Controls” Coming to Libby!

The next major release of Libby will introduce a new feature called Content Controls. Content Controls allow users to configure what library content appears in Libby, for themselves or for their family, based on the intended audience for each book, audiobook, and magazine in the library collection.

🦸 Libby for Everyone works just like Libby does today, with no restrictions by audience except those users manually choose to apply.
🧒 Libby for Kids shows only titles for “juvenile” and “young adult” audiences when searching and browsing in Libby. Users can apply deep-search, sample, and circulation restrictions to young adult titles if they wish.
🧟 Libby for Grown-ups is for people who borrow “general content” and “mature content” titles only. It prevents kids’ titles from appearing at their libraries in Libby. Users who enjoy young adult titles can re-enable that content using a toggle within the preset.

Users can also choose to lock Content Controls with a passkey. To access these options, visit Content Controls in the Settings section of the Menu. The update with these new features is expected the week of June 23!

– Heather Auman, Western Allegheny Community Library

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