I love books and libraries. Other than getting free books to read, one of the best things I love about libraries are the free services they offer to their patrons. I recently took a look at the new services offered by some libraries and I discovered Kanopy.
Kanopy is an on-demand streaming service offered by many libraries and universities. Each library gives their patrons a number of credits to use every month and each credit is used to view one video. If you have library cards for different library systems offering Kanopy, then you can stack your credits. Since I live in California, the second largest state in the United States, I am able to get cards from many libraries all across the state.
Here’s a list of the library cards I have to date that offer Kanopy along with how many credits they offer.
- Pleasanton Public Library: 15
- Santa Clara County Library: 15
- LA County Library (Los Angeles): 10
- Los Angeles Public Library: 10
- San Francisco Public Library: 10
- Harrison Memorial Library (Carmel): 10
- Sunnyvale Public Library: 10
- San Mateo County Libraries: 10
- Contra Costa County Library: 8
- Pala Alto City Library: 5
- Livermore Public Library: 5
- Oakland Public Library: 4
With all of these libraries, I essentially have 112 credits I could use each month!
One thing to note is that Kanopy is offered free to library patrons, however, the libraries are the ones footing the bill. Kanopy is a pay-per-view model, or rather a “patron-driven acquisition” model. Three view of a video (at least 30 seconds) requires the library to pay for a library license of the title. This potentially could get costly for a library the more videos patrons watch videos.
Since I don’t believe I’ll actually use 112 credits each month, my plan is to spread out my used credits throughout the different libraries, starting with the bigger library systems first.
Kanopy offers a lot of indie film selections as well as documentaries and old films. There are a few popular films, but not too many. However, I don’t really feel like this is a set back. I’m able to watch movies and shows that I would not have probably watched otherwise.
Kanopy also has it’s own section for kids called Kanopy Kids. Kanopy Kids is unlimited! Watching shows on Kanopy Kids will not use your credits.
Check to see if your library offers Kanopy and give it a try!