That’s the Ticket


By Mark Dunham, Krause Memorial (Rockford) Branch

Kanopy, available through KDL, is a platform that allows you to bring the movie theater into your home and stream movies for free with your library card. Growing up in rural Michigan, the movie theater at the nearest town would have a new feature film every week, and it was such a big deal to go to the movies. At the time, no one ever could have anticipated the wonder of being able to stream a movie to a tablet or some other device, including a television. Yet here we are, in the twenty-first century, with technology that brings those movies directly to us.

Unlike that small-town movie theater, where we were obligated to watch whatever came along, Kanopy
provides unparalleled access to the wider world through service that connects anyone with a library card to festival films, indie films and world cinema from award-winning filmmakers, as well as thousands of classic and popular television shows and movies. Also, unlike those other streaming services, the miracle of streaming through Kanopy isn’t limited by your ability to pay. Your library card is your movie ticket. Through Kent District Library, this miracle is freely available to all.