hoopla digital Announces New Content and Showcases Publishing Growth in 2016

Recent content deals and circulation of eBooks, audiobooks and comics titles speaks to the retail potential public libraries offer to publishers

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hoopla digital

Jan 05, 2017, 11:47 ET

HOLLAND, Ohio, Jan. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- hoopla digital, which now partners with over 1,300 library systems across the U.S. and Canada, today announced the addition of thousands of eBooks and audiobook titles to its expansive collection as a result of content deals with major publishers including ABRAMS, Britannica Digital Learning, The Quarto Group, Sourcebooks, and Lonely Planet, as well as hundreds of additional publishers through Ingram Content Group's CoreSource® Plus service, Independent Publishers Group (IPG) and eBOUND Canada.

hoopla digital allows users to instantly borrow e-books, audiobooks, comics and more with their library card.

This roster of publishing titles will add to hoopla's current library of 600,000 titles in music, movies, TV shows, audiobooks, comics, and eBooks.

"hoopla digital has experienced significant user and circulation growth since adding eBooks to our catalog in 2015. Publishing verticals are our strongest growth area with exceptional patron engagement in eBooks, audiobooks and comics on the hoopla platform," said Jeff Jankowski, owner and founder of hoopla digital. "This growth and the metrics we are demonstrating with publishers and other content owners are fueling new content deals and more are in the works. We're thrilled by the response to our service and are excited to give library patrons even more content to discover and borrow at any time of day or night."

Data from hoopla digital shows circulation of publishing content has more than doubled over the past year, with transactions jumping from 1.5 million in 2015 to 6.3 million in 2016. As reported by Jankowski, over 70 percent of the inventory of eBooks, audiobooks and comics on hoopla digital are being checked out by patrons. The service's collection of publishing content spans a wide range of genres including young-adult, graphic novels, romance, health and wellness and many others.

"Since partnering with hoopla digital last year, we've seen a terrific response from library patrons and are pleased with the engagement level of our audiobooks," said Chantal Restivo-Alessi, Chief Digital Officer and EVP, International, HarperCollins Publishers. "We want the broadest possible distribution for the work of our authors, and hoopla digital has been able to provide incremental reach."

According to Jankowski – who has over 25 years of experience working with libraries – public libraries are an evergreen, reliable, and trusted channel, offering publishers over 12,000 outlets reaching urban, suburban and rural communities and serving a complete audience demographic. The emergence of hoopla digital and a new era of digital access to library content provides patrons with 24/7 mobile access and presents new opportunities for publishers to connect with libraries to drive title discovery, invigorate author development and facilitate better alignment of title marketing.

"We're thrilled to be active on hoopla digital and excited by what we see happening on the platform," said Gail Gonzales, VP/Publisher of Rodale Books. "Patrons are excited to have digital access to public library content; hoopla does a tremendous job of providing patrons with access to our entire backlist, and creates an opportunity for our titles to connect with new audiences."

Patrons of participating public libraries can borrow, instantly stream, and download content from hoopla digital via the service's mobile app and online at hoopladigital.com.

"hoopla's innovative model has clearly filled a void in the established library models. In a short time, we've seen tremendous growth for our CoreSource Plus publishers that are using hoopla," said Marcus Woodburn, VP of Digital Products at Ingram Content Group. CoreSource is a digital asset management and distribution platform offered through Ingram Lightning Source Inc.

About hoopla digital
hoopla digital is a category-creating service that partners with public libraries across North America to provide online and mobile access to thousands of Movies, TV Shows, Music, eBooks, Audiobooks and Comics. With hoopla digital, patrons can borrow, instantly stream and download dynamic content with a valid library card. All content is accessible via hoopla digital's mobile app and online at www.hoopladigital.com. hoopla digital is a service of Midwest Tape – a trusted partner to public libraries for over 25 years.

SOURCE hoopla digital