Access eBooks & eAudiobooks

Discontinuing Hoopla

After much consideration, the library has made the difficult decision to end our contract with the streaming service Hoopla, effective January 1, 2026.

Only 15.7% of Kern County Library Card holders were using the service and it’s not commonly known, but Hoopla is a “pay-per-use” model.

The average cost per checkout is currently $2.40. One of the main challenges of a pay-per-use model is that increased popularity directly results in higher costs. As more patrons use the service, expenses grow rapidly and unpredictably.

Because of this, libraries across the country are discontinuing hoopla and other pay-per-use platforms, as rising usage, combined with inflation-driven budget constraints, has made these services increasingly difficult to sustain.

The good news is that a wide variety of digital content will continue to be available through OverDrive’s Libby app, cloudLibrary, the Palace Project, and Kanopy, all of which remain free and accessible to Kern County residents.

Our goal is to continue providing sustainable, high-quality resources for the community.

Need Help?
Contact Library Staff

Palace Project

eBooks & eAudiobooks

This statewide collection, designed to enhance access throughout the state, is available to anyone with a California public library card and an internet connection.

Collections Available in the Palace App: The Palace Project consolidates three collections, including Kern’s Overdrive and SJVLS’ cloudLibrary, into a single app.

Palace Project Collection checks out for 21 days and is available to any California resident.

Content checked out in the Palace app from the OverDrive or cloudLibrary collections will follow the same checkout & hold limits as noted below.

Need Help?
Contact Library Staff

Compatible with:
iOS® (15.0+) and Android™ (7.0+)