This was an extremely difficult decision but one that we needed to make given the constraints on the library’s budget and unsustainability of the Hoopla pricing model. While items are free for patrons to borrow through Hoopla, the Cranston Public Library pays a fee (between $1.99-$3.99) for each and every item each person borrows through the service.
Over the past year, we have tried to put limits in place in an effort to make Hoopla more affordable and sustainable. In an attempt to forecast the annual cost of the service, we put a monthly budget cap in place. For the monthly budget cap to work a “daily 24-hour cap” was instituted. The cap was met each day between midnight and 1:00 am. Over the past six months only .0046% of our 35,000 library cardholders have been able to use the Hoopla service.
The Hoopla service has also become plagued with poorly produced and AI-generated content, including computer voice synthesized audiobooks. Hoopla is purchased as a packaged collection and not as individual titles selected by our librarians following our collection development policy.
While the borrow-on-demand service is great for those who can use it, Hoopla does not make continued financial sense for the Cranston Public Library. More and more libraries in Rhode Island and across country have been discontinuing their partnerships with Hoopla. With rising fixed costs across the library, continuing to subscribe to a service that only a few users are capable of using is not sustainable.
Going forward digital materials can still be borrowed through the Ocean State Libraries eZone (through Overdrive/Libby) and statewide services Flipster and Palace Project. Links to these services are available on our website. CPL will continue to review other digital content platforms for a potential Hoopla replacement.