The Parkland Regional Library wants to be on the forefront of technology. The latest step for the library is the adoption of Hoopla, a new film, television and movie streaming service available to library members.
Helen McCutcheon, Director of the Parkland Regional Library, explains that it began last year when the library tried Freegal, which streams the Sony Music library. She says that when that service launched, it was a much bigger success than they expected, with people signing up from every region, and from every demographic, even though she expected it would be bigger with young adults.
After the success of that venture, McCutcheon says they began looking at other resources, and after meeting the people who run Hoopla, they decided it was something that would be of interest for library users in the region.
Anyone with a library card in good standing with the Parkland Regional Library can sign up, needing their library card and email address. After that, they just login and browse the programming available.
McCutcheon says that the programming on offer through the service fits with what library clients want, whether it means new releases like the recent Golden Globe winner Boyhood, or difficult to find older content.
“We have a lot of older patrons who come in and are dying to see the old westerns, and they are all here.”
The program has been available for a week, and McCutcheon says that it has been a big success for the library so far, with 50 people signing up in the region since launch. The library itself pays the subscription to the service, but users have access for free.
One of the advantages of the service is just ease of use, and McCutcheon says that is important for the library as well as the users, because if something has a learning curve they’re the first to hear about it. She says that many resources have software to install or require third party applications, something which Hoopla does not.
“We haven’t had one call to any of our branches about somebody having problems accessing it.”
McCutcheon says that libraries are about everything, whether that means books, entertainment, children’s programming or online content, and she says their goal is to fit the needs of the people it serves.
“It makes sense in a region like this were it is so cold for eight months of the year. Who wanted to go outside this weekend, unless you absolutely had to? It’s just so onerous... You can just do it online, you don’t have to leave the house, it’s all there for you. It’s important that we have services for the whole range of the community, and our community is the entire Parkland region.”
McCutcheon says they’re proud of their new website, at http://www.parklandlibrary.ca, which now makes it possible to offer more online services. While the traditional services of the library will never go away, McCutcheon says libraries need to respond to what patrons are looking for.
“Books will always be important... but we just want to be sure that we’re offering a range of services that covers all of the needs of all of the patrons in the Parkland region.”
