Hoopla is limited to 5 books a day for the entire county!
 

I was on the Sumter County Library website and was trying to check a book out on Hoopla which is a digital library - books, videos, etc.

However, when I tried to check a book out, I got the following message.

The collective daily borrow limit set by your library has been reached and will reset at midnight. Please browse and add titles to favorites so you can easily access them after midnight.

I called the library to find out what the library's daily borrowing limit is and they told me that it is 5 books for the entire county. Not five books per patron - five for the county!!

According to Wikipedia, the population of the county was 129,752 in 2020. Assuming that 25% of the people have library cards, that would be 32,500 people having access to just five books a day on Hoopla.

Its 5 books per patron. Been using it for some time now.

5 books for entire county makes no sense at all

I agree that it doesn't make any sense. But that is what the woman told me. I specifically asked if that was per person or for the entire library and she said it was for the entire library. I hope she is wrong.

See if you can check a book out now.

Use it all the time. 5 books for the "county" is incorrect.

As I understand it, each patron can only borrow 5 books per month on Hoopla, not per day.

See if you can check a book out right now. I checked out one book this month so far and tried to check a second one out an hour ago and was told that the library had reached its daily limit.

There is a 5 books per month per patron limit.

But, there is also a collective daily limit for the county, but it is higher than 5 books.

Personally, I can't read a book before it expires, so I usually just buy the book and download it to my Kindle.

What is the collective daily limit?

I called the library and they told me that it was 5 a day.

Actually according to my reader it is called Boundless.

I have never seen a reason to take out more than a couple of books at a time but do know for a fact maximum books on reserve is 5.

That is annoying to me as depending upon how far back the books I have on reserve can take months before I get them so often 5 is too little but that is the max.

Have you considered Kindle Unlimited? Although it costs a few bucks a month you can borrow up to 20 books at a time and they don’t expire.

I don't know. The county would know, but I'm not sure they will tell you.

Hoopla and Boundless are 2 different apps. I think one is for ebooks and one is for other media. If you download the Sumter County app entitled "library2go" you will have access to both Boundless and Hoopla.

I just use Boundless. The contract with that provider only allows users to put 5 books on hold at any time. I have learned that I can take out a book with no waiting time even when having 5 on hold.

Kindle Unlimited is great if you read a lot of books and don't care about the new release best sellers. But, I don't think it will give you access to the latest book releases. For example, the latest James Patterson book, "Hard to Kill" is not available on Kindle Unlimited.

Just got boundless notification that a book I have had on hold can be downloaded. Since I have 2 books right now will wait till weekend to check it out.

Boundless is ebooks and audio books. I don’t think it has videos.

Hoopla has ebooks, videos, and music.

I wish the library had Libby.

Even the Lake County system is phasing out Libby and replacing it with cloudLibrary. Although the Lake County librarian told me that they will still have Libby for another 2 years but the book selection may be limited. The biggest problem with not having Libby is that Libby allows ebooks to be downloaded directly to a Kindle in the Kindle format.

Personally, I think the Sumter County library has become a waste of taxpayer money. The library is operated by a private company, there is no security for the books and DVDs, and the children's section is now used as a daycare place where kids come and play games, but do not read books. I have seen people walk out with 10 or more DVD movies without checking them out, basically stealing them for resale. Why should taxpayers pay for apps where wealthy people can borrow ebooks for free? Why do you need computers to surf the web when almost everyone has a smart phone? And, the Belvedere branch is really only accessible to Villagers who can well afford to buy their own books. Also, there are a lot of independent libraries where you can borrow books for free that don't cost any taxpayer money. In my opinion, they should close the Sumter County library system. End of rant.

Here’s your opportunity.

The Sumter County Public Library Advisory Board’s (SCPLAB) purpose will be to formulate recommendations to the Library Single Administrative Head (LSAH), County Administrator (CA) and the Sumter County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) for improving technology services. SCPLAB Membership shall be comprised of 5 at-large voting members with 2 year terms commencing October 1, 2013 and 1 ex-officio member. The bylaws specify that SCPLAB meetings will take place on the first Thursday of May and November.

Become a Member
If you would like to apply to become a member of one of the County boards or committees, please fill out the online application. For questions please email or call 352-689-4400.

We deal with the Pinellas branch and happy with what they do.

Wish the branch had older books though. Seems like they started their collection just before the branch opened. As a result series that I would like to read can not be started from the beginning. As a result use kindle for that.

Have not noticed any theft.

The DVDs are in boxes with no locks. So, you can just remove a disc and put it in your pocket. I remember when there was an alarm that would sound if you tried to remove a book or DVD. Now there is no security system whatsoever.

Truth of the matter people could walk out with books if they choose just run the risk of an employee seeing it and siccing the cops on them.

Should have better security

They won't call the cops because they don't care. They are not even County employees. Also, Sumter County will provide a free library card to surrounding County residents to use Hoopla and Boundless, but Lake County charges Sumter County residents a fee to get a Lake County library card.

Note that I live in Lake County, but I have a Sumter County library card that was free, even though I pay no Sumter County taxes.

I didn’t know that. I wouldn’t mind it if there were reciprocity between counties but if we have to pay to use their library, we shouldn’t give them free access to our library! No wonder the Hoopla books are maxed out early in the day!

This should be a question for our county commissioners before the election!

I agree. There is no logical reason why Sumter County provides free library services to Lake County residents with no reciprocity. It is also a taxpayer ripoff.

Wonder why the board of Sumter accepts this?

The problems noted on this thread are one of the reasons my wife and I still go to the library, and still check out good old paper books.
We have tried it, but neither of us ever felt right reading a book from a screen. Just love the feel of the book and turning the pages.
We are a pair of old Library Dinosaurs!

I prefer reading a physical book. Probably because I have been doing it for about 60 years. However, if I can’t get the physical book and the choice comes down to not reading the physical book or reading the digital book, I have no problem going digital.

And I love being able to define a word by clicking on it. No going to a dictionary and looking up the definition with digital books!

I have checked out many physical books that often have mysterious stains, etc. I am always reminded of the Seinfeld episode The Bookstore.

Also, I have hundreds of books on my iPad. Complete works of Shakespeare, Dickens, Dostoyevsky, Doyle, etc., and many other books. Makes it easier to travel with books.

When digital books first came out, I thought it would revolutionize libraries. You could have a digital library and not have to pay for shelf space. Unfortunately, digital books are almost as expensive as physical books.

Many of my friends are into the digital format, but I just cannot get on with it.
My formal education practically stopped from the age of 12 after my father died.
I became the man of the house, the local odd job kid, paperboy, greengrocers help, and bunked off school a lot, just to earn a few bob, and help put food on the table.
Post-war Britain was not the place to be poor, unlike today, when not having the latest iPhone is classed as being near the poverty line.
Our local library became my main source of education, and escape.
I devoured books, and still do.

I have asked Don Wiley whether this can be changed.

I would like to see a National digital library. Other states allow any resident of the state to have a library card.
I used to pay an annual fee to the Brooklyn library but they stopped the service. I now pay $38 annually to Broward. Orange County is $125 and there are other states that will lend out of state but it would be so much easier if we had a national library. I wouldn’t have so many apps on my phone and have to search Each library separately.

This makes no sense to me.

I just borrowed 5 books to test and was able to download all of them. You mean to tell me I’m the only person in Sumter county downloading books today?

Btw, just in the unlikely event that this is true. I returned them all just now.

Libraries still exist?????

I get to pick one free e-book a month with Amazon First Reads program. Costs me nothing to sign up, and I've been using it since before I started subscribing to Amazon Prime. Each month you can select one book from a list of 5-6 books, each of a different genre. Some months you can select two books, sometimes you can get a book and a free short-story compilation.

I like Boundless / Hoopla
 

From time to time, I download an audio book. Based on time walking or in the car, it may take 30-60 days before I finish listening to a lengthy book. The first time my D/L expired, I panicked thinking I'd have to "find" the spot where I left off. I was pleasantly surprised to find that upon re-D/L'ing, the bookmark was automatic and the audio knew exactly where I had left off. Nice feature.

Please note that returning them does not change the daily borrowing limit. Once they are checked out, that counts against the daily borrowing limit.

I just tried to borrow a book and I got the following message.

The collective daily borrow limit set by your library has been reached and will reset at midnight. Please browse and add titles to favorites so you can easily access them after midnight.

Have you tried to borrow a sixth book?

Yes. It is located right next to the Daily Sun distribution center. :1rotfl:

Boundless vs Hoopla vs Libby
 

I go through 2-3 e-novels a week, both eBooks and audio books. I use Sumter's Boundless and Hoopla platforms. The limits on Hoopla are correct and sometimes frustrating. My observations are that Libby, which I used at a different library, is the best platform, but I have been told that it is the most expensive and Sumpter won't use it. Boundless is the worst (and the cheapest). It's sluggish, doesn't sync well between devices, doesn't track pages or paragraphs well, plus other annoying problems. Hoopla's platform is good but has those limits described by the OP. I have complained both on the Boundless site and to one of the Advisory Committee members. The selection is also frustrating on both sites. I prefer the style and pace of male authors, even in the same genre. The selection of books on both sites seems to be about 80% female authors, and at 74 years old I have read most of the books by the male authors. If you are also frustrated with Sumter's platforms maybe more comments to the Advisory Committee will help us.

And the majority of the 80% female writers, write murders!


Be very careful out there. :22yikes:

I have been doing some research on the various apps. I think Libby is cheaper than Hoopla - which is why Hoopla limits the county to 5 books a day. I am still trying to verify that number. For some reason the library seems reluctant to give me that information.

I have looked at their website and I can find nothing on their budget! I would like to know how much is budgeted yearly for hoopla, boundless, etc.