Hastings Public Library, (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)
HASTINGS — The Hastings Public Library strives to meet the digital services needs of its patrons, including – but not limited to – the popular Hoopla service.
Hoopla provides library cardholders with access to an extensive catalog of audiobooks, eBooks, comics, music, and movies. Through Hoopla, patrons can check out up to ten titles each month, bringing a world of entertainment and education right to their fingertips.
Recently, patrons have received messages stating that the library’s daily budget limit has been reached, preventing further checkouts for the day.
This issue arises due to the way Hoopla operates its budget system. The library allocates a monthly budget of $3,800 for Hoopla, which is divided into a daily budget of approximately $125. Each item checked out from the service costs a certain amount of this budget. For example, popular audio titles can cost up to $3 per checkout. Once the daily budget is exhausted, no further items can be checked out that day, and the daily budget resets at midnight.
This situation has been becoming more frequent as Hoopla’s catalog continues to gain popularity among patrons and as costs per checkout rise. As a result, Hastings Public Library users are encountering this budget limit earlier in the day. While the library is unable to increase the current budget for this service at this time, it is actively exploring opportunities to expand the collections budget in the future to allow for more funding for Hoopla.
The library is also considering other options, such as reducing the available content on Hoopla.
However, given the vast selection of media available on the platform, this would be a significant task for staff and may not lead to meaningful improvements in service. In the meantime, we encourage our patrons to consider the following strategies to maximize their access to
Hoopla’s digital offerings:
• Check Out Items After Midnight: Since the budget resets at midnight, patrons may have better luck trying to check out items shortly after the daily reset or early in the morning.
