Hoopla Changes Coming Soon

June 22, 2026

By Kari Besancon, District Director 

 

With the approval of the Board of Trustees, the Iosco-Arenac District Library will reduce hoopla borrows per month

FROM 12 DOWN TO 6.

While the vast majority of patrons will not be impacted by these changes, we know there is an interest in why we need to reduce borrows.   

Why is this happening? 

Hoopla and Libby are digital services we provide to you with your library card. They both offer eBooks, audiobooks, and other digital content, but they operate under different funding models.

Hoopla uses a pay-per-borrow model, meaning that there is never a wait time for a book (which is awesome), but the Library is charged every time you check out and item – even if you check it out, discover you checked out the wrong title and immediately turn it back in (which is not awesome).

Libby is funded through our annual membership in the White Pine Library Cooperative. This fee is based on the population of our legal service area (residents of Iosco and Arenac Counties) rather than the number of items borrowed. As a result, increased use of hoopla directly increases the Library’s costs, while increased use of Libby does not create the same per-checkout expense.

Unfortunately, as hoopla becomes more popular, more of our patrons utilize the higher circulation limit, which in turn increases our cost, so much so that we are quickly approaching our budgetary limit for the year.

To help ensure that hoopla remains available to all patrons while keeping the service financially sustainable, the Library Board of Trustees has voted to reduce hoopla’s monthly borrowing limit down to 6 checkouts per month beginning July1.

Sincerely,

Kari L. Besancon, MLIS

District Director