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Council reviews possible library 'Hoopla' subscription reduction as part of budget cuts
Summary
Library staff told the council Hoopla’s pay-per-use model has become cost-prohibitive as usage grew; the library could save about $54,000 by ending Hoopla access and shift users to other platforms, a potential cut under consideration in budget balancing.
Library staff told the council that Hoopla, a digital-content vendor that charges on a pay-per-use basis, has grown rapidly in cost and now exceeds the library's capacity to pay for it. The librarian said usage first cost a couple thousand dollars a month but has climbed to over $5,000 monthly, prompting staff to consider reducing or ending Hoopla and shifting more resources to other services such as Libby.
"Hoopla has only one model and it's pretty much a pay per view... now we're over $5,000 a month, and it keeps growing," the library presenter said, explaining staff are evaluating options to preserve access to digital materials while containing costs. Staff estimated ending Hoopla would save roughly $54,000 in the coming year; the council discussed whether to include that reduction among voluntary staff cuts or preserve the subscription for equity and access reasons.
The library director said staff will propose budget language reflecting the board's direction. The budget team will include the library options in the spreadsheet used to model overall deficit solutions.
