April 19, 2023 By Sara Mason Ader
If you’re ever in the mood to dive into a new book or magazine but don’t want to leave your house, or even get up from your chair, the Hingham Public Library offers several services—at no charge to library cardholders—that you might be interested in.
The first one I tried out is called Libby, which is an App that provides access to thousands of books, audiobooks and magazines through your phone, computer or other electronic device. I downloaded it for free from the App store onto my iPhone, but you can also use a computer to get in through Libby’s website. To get started, I answered a pop-up question about which library I wanted to connect to and then was prompted to enter in my library card number and PIN number for the Old Colony Network. Of course I had forgotten my PIN, so I called the helpful humans at HPL’s Reference Desk to help me out. Once I entered that in, Voilà! I was all set to start browsing the virtual stacks.
In the Libby app, books and audiobooks on the virtual shelves represent a certain number of digital licenses purchased by the library for each book. Just like in the real-life library, you may need to wait for a more popular title to become available, but Libby will let you know approximately how long the wait will be and lets you put your name on a waiting list. Libby will then notify you when it’s your turn to download the book.
Also like the actual library, Libby gives you a two-week period to enjoy your title and also renew them if you’d like. You can borrow or hold up to 10 books at a time. Magazines are unrestricted, so you can read as many of those at a time as you wish.
Hoopla is second service offering a vast selection books, audiobooks, comics, magazines, as well as movies, music and TV shows, to HPL patrons through their phones or other devices. Unlike Libby, the same item can be borrowed by any number of users at once, so there’s no need to wait for your choice to become available.
Both Libby and Hoopla enable users to change their accessibility settings, which means you can change the print size or switch the fonts. That can be very useful for readers who prefer large-print books but can’t always find them. Or, if you have a font that you prefer, like the one specifically designed for readers with dyslexia, it is easy to adjust the settings from a dropdown menu that I found in the top right corner of the screen on my iPhone. For audiobooks, you can adjust the speed of the reader’s voice to make it faster or slower.
Finally, Kanopy is a similar service providing access to thousands of films, many of which are documentaries or more artsy or harder-to-find entertainment, that you can link to your phone, computer or TV. If you’re sick of the Netflix options and fees, Kanopy may be well worth looking into.
Best of all, the library staff offers free classes and assistance for cardholders who are having trouble figuring out where to start: “People are welcome to come in and ask for help with any of these services,” says Robby St. John, HPL’s tech services librarian. “Classes provide a safe environment to ask questions, and it helps to see that you’re not the only one with questions.”
If you’re not comfortable in a classroom environment, feel free to give the Reference Desk a call to ask a question, like I did about my PIN. Or, pop in for an in-person visit to get help with an individual question or issue. “Everyone starts from a different starting point with a different need, so sometimes it helps to have a one-on-one conversation,” St. John says.
Cost associated with Libby, Hoopla and Kanopy are generously funded each year by the HPL Board of Trustees. HPL is a town resource with an operating budget funded largely by the Town of Hingham, but the library’s Board of Trustees covers about 80% of the library’s books, materials and programming expenses. Last year, that amounted to about $230,000.
HPL Trustees generate funds to cover their portion of the library’s annual expenses through art sales commissions, an Annual Appeal, the Used Bookstore, and special events like the Beyond the Books Fundraiser coming up on April 28 from 6 pm to 9 pm.
Everyone is invited, and a few tickets remain available. Click here for more information about how to buy tickets or participate in sponsorship opportunities.