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Neeyati Shah, community engagement and electronic resources librarian, shows how to use Kanopy, a video streaming service, at the Madison’s Central Library.
Liz Amundson subscribes to three streaming services for her family — Netflix, Hulu and HBO Max. But she’s also enjoying a fourth streaming option that’s completely free with a library card: Madison Public Library’s new streaming service, Kanopy.
“Kanopy is the best thing that libraries can offer people for a price that is affordable to us,” said Amundson, a reference and collection librarian at Madison Public Library, and mother of a sophomore at East High School.
“We can’t get Netflix for you. We can’t get Amazon Prime for you. We can’t get Hulu for you. It’s impossible. So, this is something we can do,” she said.
On March 1, the library began offering Kanopy in a test run to see how it will work.
Molly Warren, who handles digital and online collections for the Madison Public Library, said Kanopy had 769 users in its first month. Those who signed up discovered it without any marketing. “It’s kind of amazing,” Warren said.
Kanopy’s selection includes about 30,000 videos, including indie films, documentaries, foreign films, popular cinema, educational courses and children’s shows.
The Madison Public Library Foundation provided a $24,000 grant to cover the cost of the library’s one-year subscription to Kanopy.
Warren said some library users have been aware of Kanopy because the University of Wisconsin has subscribed to components of the platform on and off over the years.
Late last year, the South Central Library System and other libraries in Wisconsin became eligible for a lower-cost subscription than they were able to get in the past, and the foundation was willing to fund it as a pilot, she said.
Kanopy users can create a watch list with what they’d like to see, Amundson said.
“I noticed just today, in the short time that we have had Kanopy, there have been some additions,” she said. “It looks like it’s truly changing all the time.”
She was happy to see “Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” a 2016 New Zealand adventure-drama that kicked off the Wisconsin Film Festival that year. “It is so charming. It’s a comedy, but it’s also poignant.” Amundson said. “I can’t imagine anyone on planet Earth not loving it.”
Amundson also recommends the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock crime-thriller “Dial M for Murder,” which is on the Kanopy roster, and the 2009 Chris Rock documentary, “Good Hair,” in which the comedian examined what at that time was the $9 billion Black hair industry.
Other titles include Anthony Bourdain’s series “A Cook’s Tour,” produced in 2000 and 2001 and first aired in 2002 and 2003 on the Food Network; “Magnolia,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 epic psychological drama with an all-star cast; and “Eighth Grade,” a 2018 coming-of-age film written and directed by comedian Bo Burnham.
“Twilight Zone: The Movie” from 1983 is included, as is 1991’s “Madame Bovary” and documentaries such as “Not Going Quietly,” “Last Man Fishing,” “Making a Killing: Guns, Greed and the NRA,” and Ken Burns’ “Country Music” series.
Subscribers to Kanopy through the library get 10 movie credits a month, plus the content Kanopy offers for free, including unlimited access to Kanopy Kids programming and educational courses.
When users start a film, they can watch it as many times as they want for 48 or 72 hours, depending on the title, without using a new credit.
Children’s programming includes “Sesame Street” in English and Spanish; a Highlights magazine show; stories like “Chicka Chicka 1,2,3,” “Where the Wild Things Are” and “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus”; read-along story books; and historical and classic tales.
Titles under The Great Courses include the 24-episode “The Skeptic’s Guide to American History,” the 48-episode “The History of Ancient Egypt” and the 24-episode “Nuclear Physics Explained.”
Library use was down in 2020 and 2021, as materials were harder to access because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, in 2021 all items with barcodes — books, DVDs, Blu-rays and CDs — were checked out more than 1.4 million times, Amundson said.
Users are still checking out DVDs and Blu-rays in large numbers, she said. Together, circulation of those media at all nine Madison libraries combined was 349,166, or 23% of everything checked out, she said.
In 2019, the total circulation of barcoded items was more than 3 million with DVDs and Blu-rays at about 791,000.
For 2021, Madison library cardholders also checked out about 373,000 eBooks and 294,000 downloadable audio materials, according to librarian Katie Hanson from the library’s collection management team.
That’s up from 2019, when nearly 254,000 eBooks were checked out along with 208,000 audio books.
Neeyati Shah, community engagement and electronic resources librarian, demonstrates how to use the Kanopy app on her smartphone.
Neeyati Shah, the library’s community engagement and electronic resources librarian, said the library’s DVD collection still gets a lot of use in the streaming era.
“Videos are something that people want from the library,” Shah said. “And I think this is just another format. It’s not necessarily an either/or, but people do want the option to be able to stream things on different devices, depending on where they are, if they don’t have a physical DVD with them.”
Streaming services are something the library has gotten lots of requests for, she said. “So, it’s good to be able to actually offer it. … As far as what libraries can offer for video streaming, this is really one of the best products that’s available.”
With the warmest temperatures of the year taking hold in the area, a walker enjoys the day’s spring-like weather during a walk along the shoreline of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wis., Wednesday, March 16, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Yvette Pino, of Madison, Army veteran and curator of veteran art at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, does printmaking demonstrations from the window of the museum on Capitol Square in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, March 16, 2022. The event is part of Southern Graphics Council International (SGCI) annual conference with printmaking demonstrations continuing Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and an exhibit “Wisconsin Was There: Sharing the Legacies of Printmakers Who Served in the Military” that displays prints by veterans with a connection to Wisconsin. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Odin, a 5-month-old puppy, looks inside while playing at Duncan’s Dog Daycare in Madison, Wis., Monday, March 21, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Sam Koblenski, right, holds an umbrella for his son Ian as he photographs fog over Lake Monona at Monona Terrace in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, March 30, 2022. The duo was out photographing Frank Lloyd Wright architecture throughout Madison as a spring break homework assignment. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
John Berner, a preparator at the Chazen Museum of Art on the campus of UW-Madison, installs elements of “Suspended Landscapes,” a large-scale fabric piece by Toronto-based artist Amanda McCavour in the museum’s Paige Court in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Commemorating the museum’s 50th anniversary, the machine embroidered and stitched work incorporates native plant specimens held in the campus’ Wisconsin State Herbarium. The site-specific piece is comprised of 60 semi-transparent panels and will remain on display through mid-September. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Callie Stanley makes her way across an obstacle at the Madison College Challenge Course in Madison, Wis., Monday, March 21, 2022. The Craig High School softball team from Janesville was using the Challenge Course as a team building activity prior to the beginning of the season. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Sunny skies and warmer temperatures encourage shorts and t-shirts from students with UW-Madison as they dodge sloppy conditions during a training run along Vilas Drive in Madison, Wis., Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Eluding a light rain shower under the cover of an umbrella, Jane Kroesen of Tucson, Ariz. walks along Century Ave. in Middleton, Wis., Tuesday, March 22, 2022. In the area to visit family, Kroesen said she was actually enjoying the conditions, as rain is infrequent in the desert southwest. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
A pedestrian is silhouetted by a neon wall at the central branch of the Madison Public Library in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, March 23, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Mel Chin talks about his spider sculpture titled “Cabinet of Craving” at his exhibition “Mel Chin: There’s Something Happening Here” at Madison Museum of Contemporary Art in Madison, Wis., Thursday, March 17, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
John Jaeggi, of Brooklyn, Wisconsin, left, and Roland Sahli, of Switzerland, judge rindless swiss during the World Championship Cheese Contest at Monona Terrace in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, March 1, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Scott Amera, with his 1-year-old granddaughter, Ellie Amera, walk out of a barn that was damaged on his son and daughter-in-law’s farm from a tornado that touched down Saturday night on Leslie Road in the town of Dunkirk, Wis., Tuesday, March 8, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Jennifer Angus, an insect artist and professor in Design Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison talks about her exhibit “Jennifer Angus: A is for Apple, B is for Bug, C is for Cicada” at the Wyoming Valley School Cultural Arts Center in Spring Green, Wis., Thursday, March 24, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Epic employees move into the new Mystery Building on the Storybook Campus in Verona, Wis., Wednesday, March 23, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Kristina Whisenhunt, top, and Becky Rabensdorf use the German wheel at Madison Circus Space in Madison, Wis., Friday, March 11, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Middleton Co-op’s Maddy Ahlborn (11) hits the net as teammate Rachel Jasinski (12) attempts to score against D.C. Everest Co-op’s Dru Sabatke (23) and goalie Claire Calmes (31) in the second period of a WIAA girls hockey state semifinal game at Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis., Thursday, March 3, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Wisconsin’s guard Brad Davison (34) deflects a pass intended for Iowa State’s forward Aljaz Kunc (5) during the second half of Wisconsin’s 54-49 second round loss in the 2022 NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball tournament in Milwaukee, Wis., Sunday, March 20, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Gibraltar High School’s Dex Tishler (30) battles against Randolph defenders for the ball during a WIAA Division 5 boys basketball state tournament semifinal at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., Friday, March 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Hudson’s Brecken Meyer gets tangled up fighting for the puck against Edgewood’s Paul Sergenian, 7, and J.J. Wiebusch, 6, during the third period of the Division 1 State Boys Hockey Championship game at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis., Saturday, March 5, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Wisconsin’s center Chris Vogt (33) falls into a row of photographers during the first half of he team’s second round game of 2022 NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball tournament against Iowa State in Milwaukee, Wis., Sunday, March 20, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Randolph’s Sam Grieger, left, and teammate Travis Alvin hug as they come off the court near the end of the Division 5 WIAA boys state basketball championship game where they defeated Bangor 65-51 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., Saturday, March 19, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Wisconsin guard Chucky Hepburn (23) is embraced by teammates Chris Vogt, left, and Ben Carlson following the Badger’s 70-67 win over Purdue at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, March 1, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Westosha Central’s Kenny Garth turns to present the sectional plaque to the student section following their 79-48 win over Oregon during a WIAA Division 2 boys basketball sectional final at Watertown High School in Watertown, Wis., Saturday, March 12, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Madison Edgewood fans cheer as the team is introduced prior to their WIAA Division 1 state semifinal hockey game against Notre Dame de la Baie Academy at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis., Friday, March 4, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Hudson’s Zach Kochendorfer, center, celebrates the team’s victory over Edgewood in the Division 1 State Boys Hockey Championship game at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis., Saturday, March 5, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
The final three participants of the 2022 Badger State Spelling Bee, Maadhav Karun, left, Maya Jadhav, center, and Aiden Wijeyakulasuriya, right, compete during the event at the Mitby Theater on the campus of Madison College in Madison, Wis., Saturday, March 26, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Wisconsin’s guard Brad Davison (34) reacts as time expires during Wisconsin’s 54-49 second round loss to Iowa State in the 2022 NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball tournament in Milwaukee, Wis., Sunday, March 20, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Kanopy’s selection includes about 30,000 videos, including indie films, documentaries, foreign films, popular cinema, educational courses and children’s shows.
Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
Wisconsin State Journal feature writer Samara Kalk Derby writes about the arts and brings you the latest news on the Madison area’s eclectic restaurant scene. She can be reached at [email protected] or 608-252-6439.
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Neeyati Shah, community engagement and electronic resources librarian, shows how to use Kanopy, a video streaming service, at the Madison’s Central Library.
Neeyati Shah, community engagement and electronic resources librarian, demonstrates how to use the Kanopy app on her smartphone.
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