hoopla Offers a Digital Content Trick-or-Treat for At-Home Halloween Celebrations

As families reimagine Halloween traditions this year, hoopla digital, the category-creating digital service for public libraries, has curated a collection of spooky and fun content of all ages for at-home celebrations. hoopla digital’s Halloween-themed movies, music, comics, eBooks, audiobooks, lesson plans and children’s videos, along with hoopla’s puzzles, read-a-longs, word games and activity books are all available instantly via the hoopla digital mobile app or website to anyone with a library card from a participating public library.

“At hoopla digital, we love Halloween and we’ve worked to collect the best titles for the holiday. This year, Halloween will look different and we are here to help with an exciting content for your at-home celebration,” said hoopla digital co-founder Jeff Jankowski.

With a growing number of Halloween parties canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic and the CDC declaring trick-or-treating a high-risk activity, many people are planning to adapt their usual Halloween celebrations to follow social distancing guidelines. According to a HalloweenCostumes.com survey, 42.32% of people said they are celebrating Halloween at home this year.

hoopla’s Halloween curated collections feature hundreds of titles for a range of ages including kids and young adults.

The Halloween Videos for Kids Collection include spooky movie and TV show classics for the whole family:

• How to Catch a Monster — Part of the How to Catch… Series comes this fun and inventive picture book, which reminds us that things aren’t always as scary as they seem. In the end, maybe the monster is just looking for a friend!
• Sabrina The Animated Series — Stars Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman, a cute twelve-year-old with a big heart and an even bigger secret. Sabrina is half mortal and half witch!
• Igor — Starring John Cusack, presents a world filled with mad scientists and evil inventions!
• The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Halloween — Takes Nick and Sally on a Halloween fright-filled adventure into the deep into the Oooky-ma-kooky Closet where they discover the very best Halloween costumes ever.

The Kids eBook and Audiobook collections feature treasured Halloween stories and a variety of fun crafts and recipes including:

• Ralph Masiello’s Halloween Drawing Book by Ralph Masiello
• Let’s Bake Halloween Treats! by Ruth Owen
• Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega
• Pete the Cat by James Dean
• How to Catch a Monster by Adam Wallace

The Halloween Comics for Kids Collection spotlights some all-time favorites Halloween tales including:

• Archie’s Halloween Spectacular by Archie Superstars
• Haunted Mansion by Sina Grace
• Disney The Nightmare Before Christmas by Alessandro Ferrari
• Goosebumps: Download and Die! by Jen Vaughn

Since the onset of the pandemic in March, patron borrows for children’s titles on hoopla have increased nearly 200 percent. Borrowing trends on hoopla show soaring borrows for read-a-longs, puzzles, word games, and activity books as families have discovered content for kids abundant on hoopla, accessible through their public library.

As the leading digital resource for STEAM education, Jankowski adds that families who have tapped hoopla for entertainment content during social distancing orders have also discovered educational titles for remote learning.

To access content on hoopla digital, cardholders of participating libraries can download the free hoopla digital mobile app on their Android or iOS device or visit hoopladigital.com. Content on hoopla can be accessed across a range of platforms including Android TV, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Chromecast. Titles on hoopla can also be downloaded and accessed later if a Wi-Fi connection is not available. Additionally, hoopla digital offers “Kids Mode,” which families can use to shape the content experience and to search for and access kid-friendly titles any time.

hoopla digital is in over 8,000 public libraries across the U.S. and Canada including Free Library of Philadelphia, Chicago Public Library, San Francisco Public Library, and Los Angeles Public Library. Visit hoopladigital.com to find out if your library partners with hoopla.

For more information, please contact 800-875-2785 (US) or 866-698-2231 (Canada).