If you borrow through hoopla with your Fondulac District Library card, you’ll experience some service changes beginning April 1.
Starting April 1, the library is reducing the number of hoopla checkouts a cardholder can make each month to five (5) checkouts. Cardholders will still have full access to the same robust collection of eBook, audiobook, and streaming media offerings on the platform.
We recognize that hoopla is a valued service for our cardholders and that some will be disappointed with this decision. Even though cardholders will be limited to five hoopla checkouts per month, most cardholders will not notice a reduction in service. Over the last year, 76% of the library’s hoopla users checked out five or fewer titles per month.
Please know that the library is excited to offer hoopla and to be able provide wide digital access to popular content through many library services. We want to continue to offer the full collection of hoopla titles to as many cardholders as possible. At the same time, the cost to the library has more than doubled since 2020. Lowering the number of checkouts for individual cardholders will help us to be able to continue hoopla service, to serve more cardholders, and to control costs.
To help you understand this change, it’s important that we explain how hoopla works. Unlike physical materials (books, DVDs, Playaways, CDs) which have a one-time cost and become part of the library’s permanent collection, hoopla charges a fee each time a cardholder borrows or renews a title. On average, it costs the library $2.27 for each checkout. However, prices vary among titles, with individual per-use charges ranging from $0.99 to $3.99. Audiobooks are generally the most expensive format and are the most popular with our patrons, as well. The difficulty with a pay-per-use model is that the more popular the service becomes, the harder it is to control the budget and the more expensive it is to maintain.
In order to offer the service, the library dedicates a portion of its annual Public Library Per Capita Grant income. In 2018, the library began hoopla service at the rate of 4 checkouts per cardholder per month and limited the collection to items that cost $1.99 or less to borrow. After a pilot period, the library decided in 2019 to allocate a larger portion of grant funds in order to increase both the number of checkouts and access to additional, more popular titles. In 2020, the library increased checkout limits to 10 to provide additional access. Since that time, the popularity of digital media has grown exponentially. The library increased its budget for digital services and added additional platforms, such as Kanopy and Comics Plus.
Over the past few years, hoopla usage has grown significantly, as has the amount of grant money the library allocates for it. In the last twelve months, cardholders have checked out 13,286 titles from hoopla. 12% of library cardholders have checked out at least one item from hoopla, with new hoopla users accounting for 35% of the users. The total number of items borrowed increased by 33% from 2023 to 2024, and usage in 2025 is 30% higher over the same period last year. Likewise, the library’s hoopla costs in the last twelve months have exceeded budgeted funds by 25%, and spending year-to-date over the same period last year is up nearly 30%. Current and projected usage rates exceed what is sustainable and prudent for the library’s budget.
The library aims to make books, movies and music available to our cardholders in multiple formats. In addition to hoopla, cardholders can borrow eBooks and audiobooks via Libby (ADML/Overdrive), Boundless (eRead Illinois), and Tumblebooks. Movies are available through our Kanopy subscription, and unlimited digital comics are available through Comics Plus. As always, we have a large collection of print books, physical audiobooks, music CDs, DVDs, and much more.
We want to emphasize that these specific checkout changes affect hoopla usage only and do not alter cardholders’ usage of the library’s other stream and download services. Additionally, titles in hoopla's Bonus Borrows program, available the last 7 days of each month, don't count against your limit.
We understand the new limit may inconvenience some users. However, it is necessary to maintain a sustainable level of usage for our entire library community. The library will continue to monitor cost and usage trends. By making this service more sustainable within the library budget and retaining equitable access to all cardholders, we hope these changes will allow the library to continue offering hoopla for the foreseeable future.
As always, please reach out to library staff if you need help with hoopla or other digital platforms available through our library. They are happy to help you navigate our resources and collections.
Thank you for your understanding.