Streaming services can get expensive, but you can get many television shows and movies, plus a wide variety of music for free by using nothing but your library card.
Kanopy is a service with hundreds of movies and series available at no cost to you. Use your library card and create a free account, then access newer films such as Longlegs (2024), Freelance (2023), and The Promised Land (2023), as well as classics like Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979), The Producers (1967), and The Graduate (1967). Series include titles like Blackshore (2024), Pride and Prejudice (1995), Sugar Sugar Rune (2005) and Lonesome Dove (1989). Also available are videos from The Great Courses; a very popular series of instructional and educational films. Patrons are given 45 “tickets” per month to spend on movies, which are about 2 tickets teach, and series, which are generally 5 tickets per season. If you have a smart television, an Amazon Fire device, a Roku device, or a Google TV Streamer, you may be able to download the Kanopy app and watch these titles on your television instead of a phone, tablet, or laptop.
You can also use hoopla to check out movies, television shows, and music, as well as other media. Movies and television shows include the entire Mission Impossible series of films, Failure to Launch, The Terminal, Catch Me if You Can, the Agatha Raisin series, Finding Your Roots, The Librarians, and Rick Steves’ Europe. Music is checked out as full albums. Some holdings include Wicked: the Soundtrack, I’m the Problem by Morgan Wallen, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess by Chappell Roan, and Mayhem by Lady Gaga. Create a free account with your library card, then browse the collection.
hoopla also offers BingePasses, which are groups of videos, magazines, or games you can check out at once. Examples include The Great Courses videos, Curiosity Stream, Hallmark+ videos, hoopla Magazines, and Puzzle Palace.
In the library, we also have Roku sticks available for check out. They make every television with an HDMI port a smart television. (You will need Internet, so you may want to check out a hotspot as well.) Each stick comes preloaded with different streaming services: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV+, AMC+, and others. The library has accounts for each service so you don’t need to pay anything at all! To place one on hold, search “DeKalb library rokus” in the library catalog, or click here. When you click on “Place Hold,” you’ll be asked which streaming services you’d like to check out.
Need some help with our streaming services or placing a Roku on hold? We’re here to help! Call the Adult Services Department at (815) 756-9568 ext. 2150 or email us at [email protected].