Kentucky Serendipity

If You Have a Library Card, Then You Have hoopla 1 August 2020

One of the few good things about the pandemic is that it has given us time to catch up on books and movies. In addition to paid video streaming services, there are many free ones which permit us to watch TV shows and movies without payment (but with ads). But what about books? Where does one get free books with libraries closed or inaccessible? That’s where hoopla comes in.

hoopla offers ebooks, videos, music, and audiobooks as streams and downloads. An account is free to anyone with a library card from a member library, which is most public and academic libraries. Setting up an account is quick and easy: Go to the hoopla site; select the library which issued your card; enter your email address and library card number; and — that’s it. You now have access to thousands of materials. The site has items sorted into categories for browsing and of course, there’s a search function.

hoopla has an app which is available for Android, iOS, and even Amazon Fire devices. You can use the app or the web site to select and view materials. If you use the app you can also download materials for viewing or listening when you’re not connected to WiFi. I tested by the web interface and the app.

The web interface is exactly what one would expect. You select an item and it’s available in the web browser. The app provides greater functionality. hoopla items can be viewed on a TV using Roku or Chromecast. When I installed the hoopla app on my tablet it recognized that I have Chromecast (through Google Home) on the tablet and asked whether I wanted to connect the app to Chromecast. I did and hoopla set up the connection immediately. When I check out a video I can tap the screen on my tablet to cast the video to my TV (as one does with other apps which can cast). Setting up the Roku device is a bit more work but not complicated. I searched for hoopla using Roku and selected the channel. I then clicked to add hoopla to my channel list. I clicked to go to the hoopla channel. I then went to the hoopla app on my tablet and under settings selected the option to set up my home device. hoopla provided a four character code on my TV screen which I entered into the hoopla app. The two were then connected. (This is the same procedure used to access many other channels through Roku.)

hoopla setup is quick and use is easy but as is the case with many other things (especially free things), terms and conditions apply. First, there is a limit on how many items one can borrow in a month. This limit is set by your local library. In my case it is five items — not five of each type but five total. So if you want to binge a TV series, forget it! On the other hand, five books is an acceptable number for a month. Second, items are checked out for a specific period. In most cases videos are loaned for 72 hours and books for 21 days. The time limits are reasonable in my opinion. Third, not all items on hoopla are immediately available. Some items are “flex borrows” which means that only one copy is available for use. If someone else has it checked out then you have to wait. (hoopla does provide a waiting list.) This is the same as what happens in a physical library but it isn’t what one expects from a streaming service.

I dislike the per month borrowing limit. I understand the need for a limit but why can’t it be a limit on the total number of items borrowed at any specific time? This is the policy at all the physical libraries I’ve used — I’m limited to five items out at any one time but when I return a item I can immediately get another. But with hoopla it’s five in a month. Since this policy is set by my local library it can’t be considered as a criticism of hoopla per se.

My only criticism of hoopla is the help section. It is very difficult to find information on things such as the item limit and borrowing length. When one does find the information it isn’t in the place one would expect. All things considered, I recommend hoopla, especially for book borrowers. It’s a terrific way to get books without cost and without leaving your home.

Wish You Were Here 27 August 2019

The humble postcard will be 150 years old on 1 October. (You can read the history of postcards here.) When I was a boy, postcards were the currency of summer. Whether sending a greeting from vacation or a missive from summer camp, a postcard was a cheap and easy way to provide a succinct update. In addition to the message the recipient (usually) also got a picture even if it were only of a hotel being used by the vacationers. Most hotels and motels provided free postcards for use by their guests, an amenity which I haven’t encountered for twenty or twenty-five years. More recently I did stay at a motel had a rack of postcards for sale which featured local scenery and attractions but these are such racks are more and more scarce. Postcards apparently have gone the way of newspapers and snail mail party invitations.

Places of lodging giving free postcards to guests was good advertising. In pre-Internet days people traveling on vacation or to visit relatives would generally drive until tired and then pick a place which looked okay. But if one had neighbors or relatives who had traveled the same path then one might have a place to stay already in mind: “Kim and Edward stayed here and they said it was nice — let’s try it.” There were few ways for motels and hotels to make their existence known outside of the immediate area. Yellow Pages ads (remember those) didn’t circulate widely and people didn’t usually request travel brochures before setting out on a trip. Some people kept the postcards they received from vacationers just in case they traveled the same way at a future date.

I also remember being at summer camp, and on the second day being handed a stamped postcard and a pen with instructions to “write your mother and tell her you’re okay”. Presumably fathers didn’t care whether one was okay or not. These were not picture postcards, but standard issue postal service postcards — a buff colored rectangle of cardboard with a printed stamp on the front. It had a reasonable amount of space on the rear for a message but most of us had trouble composing a note so we would write in large letters to take up a lot of space. The messages were quite unimaginative and comprised of phrases like “I am okay,” “it is fun here,” “the food is okay”, or the very informative “it is hot.” Even the cards lacked literary or news merit I am sure parents were glad to receive them. I suppose these days kids are told on the second day of camp to pull out their phones and send a text and perhaps to include a selfie with their new camp bestie.

Some of us still send postcards (and snail mail invitations). I have several friends with whom I regularly exchange postcards — and these are real friends, not just Facebook “friends”. We find the postcard exchanges to be a helpful aspect of our relationship and much more valuable than a text or email. Many folks still enjoy sending, receiving, and collecting postcards, and there are many companies which still print them. In addition to postcard exchanges with my friends, I participate in international exchanges through Postcrossing. Signing up with Postcrossing enables one to connect with other deltiologists around the world. It’s easy to use: you send a card to a user selected by Postcrossing, and then Postcrossing asks a different user to send a card to you.

Finding postcards to send is fairly easy — eBay and Etsy have many available. One can usually find a group of postcards for sale at fifty cents or so each. Bulk lots often go as cheaply as ten cents each. Several companies print postcards and sell direct; one which I’ve used and been very happy with is Christopher Arndt Postcard Company. They have brightly colored cards with striking images at reasonable prices and they ship very quickly. They offer a “Welcome Pack” of ten cards for five dollars to give you an idea of what they have. In addition, they created a card to celebrate the 150th anniversary — view it here. Another source for new postcards is Pomegranate Publishing. They have books of 30 postcards featuring works of art and other themes for $12.95. (I have no relationship to any of these vendors except as a satisfied customer.)

If you miss the old currency of summer, or you want to try something different, send a postcard. You’ll learn that many people are impressed and pleasantly surprised to receive a snail mail picture card with a handwritten message. You may also discover an enjoyable hobby. And if you don’t — well, it hasn’t cost you much.