The Library Isn’t Just for Books Check Out Movies with Kanopy!

With the rising cost of cable and streaming services, you have no doubt found yourself thinking, “Wow, I wish all this was available for free.” Enter: your local library! With nothing more than your Citrus County Library card, you can watch movies and TV shows for free through the Kanopy app and website!

Free TV shows and movies are no stranger to the library: the collection has long carried DVDs of your favorite programs. Kanopy, however, is an app, which means that you can access TV shows and movies from your smartphone, computer, or smart TV! You can also access Kanopy through on your laptop or desktop computer at Kanopy.com. Now you can watch from the comfort of your couch, the doctor’s office, or even the library itself.

Kanopy users will be able to pick from a catalogue of bundles, each with a different theme. For example, if you’re a fan of British dramas you may enjoy selections from the British Movies and TV bundle. If you’re a binge-watcher, the Episodic Titles bundle may be to your liking. Each bundle features 250-300 titles which have been hand-selected by Kanopy staff members. You can watch any item in the collection at any time, with no holds or wait times, and you can watch it as many times as you please.

Find something you’d like to watch later? On Kanopy, users can create and curate their own lists of content. Perhaps you’d like to make a list of romcoms to watch with your friends, or you would like to remember to watch a specific documentary with your friends. Lists can be a great tool to help you organize content you’re hoping to watch. They operate much like a music playlist: you can press “play” and let the list run through all the material in order, or you can go in and select what to watch yourself.

Are you a parent or grandparent? Kanopy has your family covered with Kanopy Kids! Kanopy Kids is comprised of hand-selected, family-friendly programming, including many popular shows like Sesame Street and Blippi. Of course, Kanopy is a library offering, so content does not begin and end with popular programming. A number of narrated and animated “storybooks” bring beloved children’s stories to life, introducing your little one to new favorite books. Some storybooks even guide viewers through text on screen, allowing children to read along with the story. Security measures can be set up by parents to ensure that kids are only able to access content in the kids’ collection. It seems that Kanopy has something for everyone, at any age!

If you are a member of any other library systems, you may be excited to learn that many other libraries use Kanopy, too! Kanopy allows you to register multiple library cards on your account. If you sign up with a second library card, you may notice that your other library’s interface uses a different system than Citrus County Libraries. Every library’s Kanopy will look different and offer a different selection, so be sure to speak to your other library to learn about how theirs works.

To sign up for Kanopy, you only need a Citrus County Library Card and a valid email address. If you’re having trouble logging on, or you do not have a Citrus County library card, feel free to contact your local library branch to get help! The library isn’t just for books—it’s for your favorite shows and movies, too!

For further information, visit your local branch of the Citrus County Library System and ask about our free technology classes. Classes are held throughout the county on a wide range of topics including smartphone mastery, internet safety, and computer basics. Individual technology consultations are also available through the library. For additional information about programming or to register, please call your local library branch, go to the library’s website, citruslibraries.org, or follow Citrus Libraries on Facebook and Instagram at @CitrusLibraries.