By now, you should have signed up for a Hoopla account. The next step is to start borrowing titles from Hoopla, and this lesson will show you how! You can borrow audiobooks, e-books, music albums, movies, and more!
Note that different types of content can be borrowed for different lengths of time on Hoopla. Movies and TV show episodes can be borrowed for 3 days (72 hours), music albums can be borrowed for 7 days, and audiobooks, e-books, and comics can be borrowed for 21 days.
How to borrow titles from Hoopla
Logging into Hoopla
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Go to www.hoopladigital.com in your web browser and click Log In in the top-right corner.
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On the log-in screen, under "Current Users", click in the box labelled "Email Address" and type in the email address that you used to sign up for Hoopla. Then, click in the box labelled "Password" and type in the password that you chose to protect your Hoopla account.
If you are using a public computer, or one that someone else might conceivably use, click the check box labelled "Remember Me" to keep Hoopla from remembering your access credentials (and thereby possibly letting someone use them by accident).
When you are done entering your information, click Log In.
Browsing and searching for titles on Hoopla
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Once you have logged into Hoopla, you will see how many more titles you are allowed to borrow for this month (as set by your local library) at the top of the screen. Below, you will see a selection of the most popular titles for each category of content. To see more titles that are available for that category, click Browse All in the top-right.
Or, if you'd like to search for something specific, click in the box next to the magnifying glass at the top of the screen, and then type in the name of an author, actor, title, or series. Then press the "Enter" key on your keyboard.
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If you choose to browse for a specific type of content (audiobook, music album, comic, etc.), you can click the filters at the top of the list to show titles that are Recommended, Featured, or Popular, or to sort titles into Genres or Collections.
You can also move your mouse cursor over the type of content that you're browsing to see a menu of the different types of content that Hoopla carries; click on a type of content to browse that type instead of your current one.
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While searching for something specific by keyword, you can use the options at the top of the screen to filter your search results by the different types of content available on Hoopla (or click All to see all results). The number next to each type of content tells you how many titles of that type of content were found in your search.
Borrowing and enjoying titles on Hoopla
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However you choose to find a title on Hoopla, click on it to see more information about it.
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Once you're on the information page for a title on Hoopla, click Borrow to borrow it.
(NOTE: For some television shows, you will have to borrow episodes separately.)
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Once you have borrowed a title from Hoopla, click Play or Read to enjoy it.
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When listening to audiobooks, you can use the tools highlighted along the bottom of the window to:
– pause or play the audiobook
– rewind the playback by 30 seconds
– quickly rewind the playback
– quickly fast-forward the playback
– adjust the volume
You can also click Add Bookmark to add a virtual bookmark at a particular point in the audiobook. Click the bookmark to skip to that point in the audiobook, or click the "X" next to the bookmark to delete it.
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While watching a movie or TV show episode, you can use the tools highlighted along the bottom of the screen to:
– pause or play the video
– enable closed captions of a certain language, or disable them altogether
– mute, unmute, or adjust the volume
– enter or exit full-screen mode (where the video takes up your whole computer screen)
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While listening to a music album, you can use the tools highlighted in the player on the left to:
– play or pause the current song
– skip to the previous song
– skip to the next song
– mute, unmute, or adjust the volume
You can also click on a song in the list on the right to play it, or click the Shuffle button to randomize the order of songs played.
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When viewing a comic, click on a particular panel to enlarge it, or click on an enlarged panel to zoom back out and see the whole page. You can also click on the left and right arrows on either side of the comic to move back or forward a page in the comic, respectively.
If you click the Table of Contents button in the top-right corner, a window will appear where you can click on a specific page number to skip to that page in the comic. Or, click the Done button in the top-left corner to close the comic and return to its information page in Hoopla.
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When viewing an e-book, you can click the left and right arrows at the bottom of the page to go back or forward a page in the book. You can also click the bookmark in the top-left corner to add or remove a bookmark from this page.
If you move your mouse cursor over the top of the page, the e-book's title will appear, along with additional options (highlighted here).
– The Font option allows you to change the style of text used in the e-book, the size of the text, or the amount of space between lines of text.
– The Settings option allows you to turn the "justified" text alignment on or off, read in one-page or two-page style, adjust the size of margins, or change the background colour.
– The Search option allows you to search for a specific key word or phrase within the e-book. Click in the box labelled "Search", type in the word or phrase that you want to search for, and then press the "Enter" key. Click on a found instance of the word or phrase in the list (if any) to skip to its location in the e-book.
– The Bookmarks option allows you to skip to a page in the e-book that you have bookmarked. Click on a bookmarked page in the list to skip to its location in the e-book.
– The Table of Contents option allows you to skip to an organizational page in the e-book, such as the beginning of a chapter or a particular appendix. Click on a page in the list to skip to its location in the e-book.
– The Done option allows you to close the e-book and return to its information page in Hoopla.
That's about everything that you need to know about borrowing and enjoying titles from Hoopla! We hope that you have fun reading, listening to, and watching what you find there!
