In Response to Unprecedented Demand, hoopla digital Curates Collection of Books that Address Systemic Racism and Issues of Racial Injustice

HOLLAND, Ohio, June 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to unprecedented demand and searches for books related to racism, inequality, and racial injustice, hoopla digital has curated four collections, containing hundreds of titles written to address these important topics. The books are available instantly via the hoopla digital mobile app or website to anyone with a library card from a participating public library. The collections include works recommended for continued education on systemic racism and inequality in America and includes several titles that are sold out on the retail market.

"Books won't solve the long-standing problems of systemic racism, yet education on these topics is an essential part of the path forward," said hoopla digital co-founder Jeff Jankowski. "Our mission as a library service is literacy and access to education. The demand is high for these titles. Many of them are difficult to find right now and, with so many libraries closed, we feel that digital access can be an important bridge to these works. As a service, we are committed to keeping this valuable media accessible through this time when library access is otherwise limited."

The national reckoning with racism and injustice has led to a surge in demand for anti-racist literature. Nine of the top 10 titles on the New York Times bestselling nonfiction list address racism, as do the majority of titles on current bestseller lists from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Heightened consumer demand has led to lack of retail market availability, backorders, high price markups, and backlogs with major publishers, with no official restock dates for many top print titles.

"The demand is hitting libraries, too – especially in locations that are still shutdown due to the pandemic. Many of our titles in the categories of racism and systemic racism are back-ordered or have double-digit holds," said Shannon Adams, manager of the Lancaster-Kiest branch of the Dallas Public Library. "We've worked with hoopla for some time to ensure our patrons have instant digital access to library topics. That access has made a difference for our patrons over the last few months and this kind of collection advances our shared mission of accessibility. Content on hoopla can be downloaded and accessed later if a Wi-Fi connection is not always available."

hoopla's four curated collections on racism issues include hundreds of titles for kids, young adults and adults.

Acclaimed titles from the Kids Collection (Early Education through Elementary) include:

• New Kid by Jerry Craft
• Separate is Never Equal by Duncan Tonatiuh
• Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story About Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano and Donald Moses
• The Skin I'm In by Pat Thomas
• The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson

The Young Adult collection includes acclaimed titles like:

• Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro
• Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America, edited by Ibi Zoboi
• Black Lives Matter by Sue Bradford Edwards
• Pushout by Monique W. Morris
• The March Series by U.S. Representative John Lewis and Andrew Aydin

The Adult eBooks and Audiobooks collections include titles sold out on the retail market; and other praised titles including:

• Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad
• The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• The Revisioners by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
• On Account of Race by Lawrence Goldstone
• Solitary by Albert Woodfox
• Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi

"hoopla is committed to elevating Black authors and exceptional work that represents the communities served by our library partners. We encourage readers to go beyond these collections and explore other fiction and nonfictions stories of the Black American experience and literature on social justice. Many of those titles are available in our expansive library of over hundreds of thousands of eBooks and audiobooks," said Jankowski. "We'll continue to do our part to obtain and to amplify this valuable content."

To access the collection 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. Content on hoopla can also be downloaded and accessed later if a Wi-Fi connection is not available.

hoopla digital is in over 6,600 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).

About hoopla digital 
hoopla digital is a category-creating service that partners with public libraries across North America to provide online and mobile access to thousands of Movies, TV Shows, Music, eBooks, Audiobooks and Comics. With hoopla digital, patrons can borrow, instantly stream and download dynamic content with a valid library card. All content is accessible via hoopla digital's mobile app and online at www.hoopladigital.com. hoopla digital is a service of Midwest Tape – a trusted partner to public libraries for over 30 years.

SOURCE hoopla digital

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