Hoopla (stylized as hoopla) is a web and mobile (
Android/
iOS) library
media streaming platform launched in 2010 for
audio books,
comics,
e-books,
movies,
music, and
TV. Patrons of a library that supports Hoopla have access to its collection of digital media.
Hoopla is free-of-charge for patrons of participating libraries. The content is paid for by library systems, using a "per circulation transaction model".[3][4]
Content
Hoopla claims to have over 500,000 content titles across six formats,[3][5] including over 25,000 comic books.[6] As of November 2016,[needs update] Hoopla's content comprised 35% audiobooks (for which Hoopla has contracts with publishers such as
Blackstone Audio,[7]HarperCollins,[8]Simon & Schuster Audio,[9]Tantor Audio,[10] and others), followed by 22% movies (for which Hoopla has motion picture contracts with publishers such as
Disney,[11]Lionsgate,[12]Starz,[13]Warner Bros.,[14] and others), 19% music, 12% ebooks, 6% comics, and 6% television.[5] One drawback is that Hoopla has few new bestsellers.[6]
Hoopla content can be borrowed and consumed on the web, or via the native
Android or
iOS apps.[17]
Parent company
John Eldred and Jeff Jankowski founded Hoopla's parent company,
Midwest Tape, in 1989. Midwest Tape is a library vendor of physical media such as audiobooks,
CDs, and
DVD/
Blu-ray.[18]
Controversy
Hoopla and Midwest Tapes were censured by the
Library Freedom Project and Library Futures in a joint statement for hosting what it described as "fascist propaganda", including a recent English translation of A New Nobility of Blood and Soil by
Richard Walther Darré of the
SS and books related to
Holocaust denial, in public library collections without the input from the staff. Criticism was also directed at the inclusion of books on
homosexuality,
abortion, and
vaccines claimed by the Library Freedom Project and Library Futures to be
misinformation. On February 17, 2022, Hoopla removed a number of titles after public outcry about Holocaust denial books available on the app under non-fiction.[19][20][21][22]