By Sarah Murphy
Special to Campus News
Are you getting the most out of your library card? You might be borrowing books, eBooks, DVDs, and audiobooks, but if you haven’t added Kanopy to your streaming media diet, you are not taking advantage of one of our library’s key features. Kanopy is an on-demand video streaming platform created and curated specifically for public and academic libraries and their patrons.
While you won’t necessarily catch the most viral content here, and you’re unlikely tto find any of the truly mindless slop that sometimes passes for entertainment at most of our homes (certainly my own from time to time), you can find world cinema, documentaries, classics, indie films, a good amount of BBC television, and tons of great children’s content on Kanopy. And it’s free with a library card.
Our monthly analytics on the Kanopy dashboard give me a peek into what films and shows are especially popular among our patrons. (It’s essential to note that as with the analytics we use to see what books, DVDs, and other physical materials are popular, we can see the number of patrons accessing the content, but we do not see who is watching what.) So here are the quirky, cool, varied things your friends and neighbors have been watching this month on Kanopy. Go grab your library card, and join them!
“Triangle of Sadness” 2022
What feels at first like a White-Lotus-style critique of the rich on holiday turns into a deeply dark anti-capitalist revenge fantasy briefly featuring Woody Harrelson. Nominated for Academy Awards for best picture, director, and original screenplay, this is an offbeat film, not for the faint of heart and stomach, but not to be missed.
“Blackshore” 2024, 6 episodes
“Blackshore” is an Irish crime series featuring a Dublin detective who returns to her rural town in the west of Ireland to investigate a murder. There’s just nothing quite like murder mysteries solved by sad attractive people with great accents. Outside of the UK and Ireland, it’s tough to access this six-episode arc, but Kanopy’s got it!
“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” 1967
Interracial marriage was still illegal in 17 U.S. states when this movie, about a white woman bringing her Black fiancé home to meet her parents, was filmed. Starring Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, and Sidney Poitier, it was an immediate popular and critical success, nominated for ten academy awards. It was also Tracy’s final film role.
“Fleming: the Man Who Would Be Bond” 2014, 4 episodes
This 4-episode British miniseries is a fictionalized biographical account of Ian Fleming, who famously created the James Bond character and novels. The miniseries covers the years 1938 - 1952, complete with the fashion and scenic design you’d hope for.
The above titles are indicative of the genres and styles you’ll find on Kanopy. I’ve just added the 1973 “Wickerman” to my watchlist along with “Force Majeure” (a 2014 Swedish film by the same director as Triangle of Sadness), “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” (1966), and “But I’m a Cheerleader,” (1999). There are some terrific recent Oscar winners and nominees like “Parasite” (2019) and “Anatomy of a Fall” (2023). And the librarian police would cite me if I didn’t mention the modern classic “Party Girl” (1995) starring the great Parker Posey as a alt-club kid who finds her true calling at the New York Public Library circulation desk.
Kanopy also features a separate channel full of children’s content. Viewers of all ages can catch animation featuring favorite characters like Arthur and Paddington and my new favorite “Shaun the Sheep.” And there’s a seemingly endless collection of picture books that have been adapted into simple animated read-alouds. “The Snowy Day” is a standout. Kids can also try “Vooks,” or video books, featuring narration alongside with the books’ text displayed karaoke-style on screen.
Patrons need a participating library card (our Greenwich Free Library participates) to connect to Kanopy, and you can do so on a laptop, tablet, phone, or by adding the Kanopy app to your TV. Each month, you’ll get 24 tickets to use, and most films or series are 2-4 tickets each. Kanopy Kids content is unlimited. Our library’s DVD collection isn’t going anywhere, but we’re proud to be able to offer this streaming option, too. As this winter drags on, we can all stand to be entertained from our couch.
Sarah Murphy is director of the Greenwich Free Library in Greenwich, NY.
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