Have you heard about Hoopla? It's the new service from Bossier Parish Library that allows you to check out movies, television shows, audio books and full albums of music on your computer or smartphone. In this edition of New Tech Tuesday, we'll be going over how to borrow materials from Hoopla on your PC, tablet or smart phone.
Step One: Getting to Hoopla
The first step to checking out items on Hoopla is, of course, getting to the Hoopla site. On your computer this means going to http://www.hoopladigital.com. On your tablet or smart phone, you'd download the Hoopla Digital app.
Step Two: Signing up
The first time you visit to Hoopla site or app, you'll be asked to sign up for an account. This is free and only takes a few minutes to complete. We'll walk through each step below. The first screen shows you an Overview of the Hoopla service and lets you know what is required to use it. You'll need your library card number and PIN, and a valid email address.
After the Overview, you'll be taken to a screen that will allow you to choose your library. Most of the time, this will automatically show you all of the libraries in your area that use Hoopla. Choose Bossier Parish Library and click Next.
After choosing Bossier Parish Library, you'll be asked for your library card number and PIN. Bossier Parish Library does require a PIN, so make sure not to leave this blank.
(Hint: The PIN is the last 4 digits of your library card number)
The final step in creating an account is entering your email address and creating a Hoopla password. This password is for Hoopla only so Bossier Parish Library staff won't be able to access or reset this password for you. If you do happen to forget this password, you can reset it through the Hoopla website.
That was the final step! You should now see a Welcome to Hoopla page that gives you basic information on your Hoopla account, including the number of titles you can borrow every month.
Step Three: Borrowing Materials
Now that you're signed up with an account you're ready to start borrowing titles! You can browse by type or search for a specific title or artist. When browsing you can switch between types at the top. There are several categories including New titles, Top titles and genres. Click on the cover picture to find more info or to borrow the item.
When you've decided what you'd like to borrow, click on the cover picture. This will take you to a screen that will show you more details, including how long you'll be able to borrow the item. Click the borrow button to add the item to your account.
Once you've borrowed the item, it can be found under the My Titles. This page also shows you how many more titles you can borrow in the month.
Using Hoopla on your mobile device or tablet
Using Hoopla on a mobile device is exactly the same as the steps laid out above, though the appearance of the screens may be slightly different.
Are you excited to start using Hoopla? We are. We're even listening to the album pictured above while typing this!
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