As most Americans continue to struggle to afford necessities like food, healthcare and rent, Colorado’s public libraries are offering some relief, and you do not need to fill up the gas tank to get it.
Library cardholders can access Kanopy in their homes. The streaming platform is similar to Netflix and others charging a hefty monthly fee.
Elizabeth Bush, head of information services for Mesa County Public Libraries in Grand Junction, said Kanopy has thousands of children’s programs, television series and major motion pictures people can stream on a TV, phone or other devices.
“They also have some blockbuster movies, for example, ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ is currently on Kanopy. They have a lot of kids materials, ‘The Great Courses,’ there’s a lot of documentaries, and all of them are free,” Bush explained.
Bush pointed out services like Kanopy fit with the library’s mission of building community through partnerships. Kanopy was launched in Australia in 2008 as a tool for colleges but quickly grew to serve public libraries and moved its headquarters to the U.S. a few years later. Kanopy is free for library cardholders but libraries pay fees on a pay-per-view model, which helps pay content creators.
A library card is also a ticket for accessing free books and magazines from anywhere through an app called Libby.
Bush noted Libby is especially great for anyone with vision impairment because users get to choose the size of the text. The books are downloaded via the app and users can read or listen even when there’s no cell service.
“Being able to play e-audiobooks from your phone. If you have kids, being able to check out an e-audiobook for like a long car ride has been really helpful,” Bush explained.
Bush stressed library users might be surprised by how many things you can get at a local library beyond books. Most have free internet access, computers and printers, and Mesa County Libraries also bring in lawyers once a year to give free legal advice.
“You can check out a toolkit if you have a project to do around the house. You can check out a state parks pass through the library. We also have passes to museums, the botanical gardens,” Bush outlined.
Support for this reporting was provided by the Andrew Carnegie Foundation, formerly Carnegie Corporation of New York.
