Santa Ana invests $75K to expand digital lending services and provide alternative to streaming

The Santa Ana City Council approved a $75,000 agreement with the digital service Hoopla to offer for digital lending for movies, music, audiobooks and E-books services through its library department.

The deal comes as digital equity programming becomes more at-risk of losing funding. The federal government pulled back $2.75 billion in funding by slashing the Digital Equity Act. Last October, the Federal Communications Commission also ended e-rate discounts to libraries and schools for digital lending programs, which included hotspots and school bus Wi-Fi.

The city first purchased Hoopla services in 2022. Brian Sternberg, Santa Ana’s library services director, told LAist the service has become increasingly popular with residents. Over the last year, Hoopla usage has been up 109%, with 4,435 people borrowing 24,340 items, according to Sternberg.

“The great people of Santa Ana deserve the same services, programs and collections that would be afforded anywhere else in the county,” Sternberg said. “That's my goal, to find ways to deliver that to our residents.”

What is Hoopla? 

Hoopla offers a variety of popular content like movies, television shows, music, audiobooks and e-books.

“Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, Max … the way those models are set up, there's not a good way for public libraries to purchase that content due to cost and just due to the way those content deliverers are structured,” Sternberg said.

Digital equity programming can extend beyond educational material, he added.

“There are kids, and they want to see Spider-Man,” Sternberg said. “And we want to be able to offer that, especially for our residents who might not have all the financial means to sign up for all these 10 different subscriptions. They're all like, $15, $20 a month.”

Hoopla provides content in English and Spanish, and there’s content for all age groups, Sternberg added.

The company uses a “pay-in-advance” model, which means the library is buying digital “credits” that are then used whenever a borrower checks out an audiobook, E-book or other content.

“They have different scales,” Sternberg said. “If you want the newest popular movies, it's this particular price point.”

How else is Santa Ana addressing digital inequities? 

Sterberg said Santa Ana libraries are still lending out Wi-Fi hotspots for three weeks.

The library also carries its “Library of Things” where residents can borrow baking tools, video games, musical instruments, cameras and more.

The Main Library and Newhope Library are still closed for major renovations but are expected to reopen by the end of this year. Residents can still visit the library at the Delhi Center and the outdoor library at Jerome Park.