Who among us hasn’t indulged in a deep dive into a specific series of books or television shows?
I’ll start by admitting I watched all six episodes of “A Stitch in Time” in one day using the Curiosity Stream BingePass on hoopla. The premise of “A Stitch in Time” is that a fashion historian picks a garment from a famous work of art, and then period tailors recreate the garment, learning about history and technology in the process. Once you have seen these historians and crafts people make a padded garment worn on top of a suit of armor by hand, you just can’t stop after one episode.
So, here are some of the ways the library is ready to support you when you get really, really curious about something, which is how we at the library prefer to think about “binge watching.”
If you have been using the hoopla app, you already know about the eBooks and audiobooks. But hoopla also includes television series such as “Hot in Cleveland” and “Doc Martin,” along with television series from across the globe and the Great Courses video series. The hoopla app works on devices, streams to Apple TV, works with Fire TV, and the hoopla channel can be added to your Roku device. All you need is your WCDPL library card to settle in and indulge your interests.
The library also recently added Binge Boxes for checkout — collections of between four and six DVDs packaged in one case — making it really easy to create an at-home movie festival. You bring the popcorn, and we supply the movies.
Some of the most popular binge boxes are the Disney Pixar collection, “Creature Features” and “Star Wars.” To find theses festivals in a box, do a title search in the library catalog (wcdpl.org) on the words “binge box” and you will get a complete list. If you want to see just what your library owns, change the drop-down menu on the first search box to say “Wood County Systems.”
Of course, you can always build your own festival by browsing our impressive collection of DVDs. At the Bowling Green library, we have over 7,000 movies for you to choose from, and in Walbridge we have almost 2,000 movies to choose from.
As the weather improves, you might be interested in our Home Movie Kit from our Library of Things for your at-home movie festival. The kits allow you to show a movie outdoors, in your garage, or in any space large enough to accommodate the screen. Included in the kit is a projector, a 120-inch foldable screen and a Bluetooth speaker, with all the various cables. Both Bowling Green and Walbridge have a Home Movie Kit available to checkout.
There’s no judgment at the library — take that deep dive into whatever interests you and own your passions. We are here to provide content, collections and technology that enable all of us to explore to our minds’ and hearts’ content. Stay curious, my friends.
Raine is deputy director for library services at Wood County District Public Library.
