By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Since 2018, the Great Bend Public Library has offered the free Hoopla app for its patrons to use to download eBooks, audiobooks, music, movies, and more. Library Director Maribeth Shafer said unless more money is made available for the service, funding to use the app will soon run out.
"We were able to get funding for it for the last five years, but that funding is no longer available as of March 2025," she said. "We're looking, hopefully, to find some donations so we can keep it going."
Nearly 700 library patrons are registered with the application, and 75 of those patrons were able to download materials last month. Each checkout costs the library between $0.99 and $3.99. Currently, the service is funded $4,200 annually, or about $11.20 a day, which already limits the number of checkouts each day. The library is now making a push to raise the $4,200 via donations.
"If we could raise even more than the $4,200 we've been able to put into Hoopla the last few years, that would be great because we could serve even more patrons," Shafer said.
The library also offers the free Libby app, which differs from Hoopla in that libraries around Kansas have actually purchased the content. While Hoopla's app is rent-on-demand, which makes it difficult to predict and budget for, Libby does require holds because the eBooks and audiobooks have already been purchased.
"We pool all our resources and purchase materials that go into that collection and share that, so it's a much more stable collection and much more stable option for online eBooks and audiobooks," said Shafer.
The library's big fundraising goal for Hoopla is $10,000 a year to enhance services available to patrons. Donations can be made via check at the library or by Venmo @GB-Public-Library with "for Hoopla" in the memo or comment line.