September is Library Card Sign-Up Month! Having a library card is probably Nashville’s best cheap life hack. Here’s your guide to streaming movies, music, and books right from home, or on the go, with your Nashville Public Library card.
Library cards are free to Davidson County residents, and you can sign up online or at your nearest library branch. You’ll need ID and proof of address. If you live outside of Davidson County but within the library’s service area, you can pay $10 for their streaming apps.
NPL partners with more than a dozen apps and programs to provide library card users with free content. You can access these programs on your computer, or download the apps onto your phone or tablet. Once in the app, pick Nashville Public Library, then enter your library card number and PIN. Some apps require an email address. Here are my most-used apps.
📺 Hoopla
Hoopla has music, movies, shows, audiobooks, and more. You’re allowed to check out 15 items per month. Is your kid obsessed with the “KPop Demon Hunters” soundtrack? Hoopla’s got it. Want to watch the “Interview With a Vampire” series? You can stream it here. You can even borrow a BingePass for seven days to stream an entire collection with just one borrow, like “The Great Courses” or Hallmark+. What I like most is that content is always immediately available. No holds needed.
📖 Libby
Libby has hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of e-books and audiobooks. While some books are available immediately (you can search by ‘available now’), most require holds. The current audiobook I’m listening to, “We Will Be Jaguars” by Nemonte Nenquimo, took about three weeks to become available. You can borrow books for two weeks before they’re due back, so it can be a balancing act when multiple holds become available at the same time! However, you can postpone holds if you don’t think you can get to something, but still want to read it later.
Other Great Streaming Apps
- Access thousands of movies on Kanopy, like “Lady Bird,” “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” and “Blippi” specials. You get 30 ‘tickets’ a month.
- Music lovers should check out BoomBox, which highlights local musicians, and Freegal, which lets you download songs to keep forever.
- If you have kids, these apps might come in handy: Libby for Kids, BookFLIX, and Comics Plus Kids. All the movie and show apps, like Kanopy and Hoopla, also include kid-friendly options.
