Remember the days when cutting cable seemed like a wise financial move? Instead, most of us now subscribe to half a dozen streaming services that can cost as much as the original cable bills. It’s not unusual to subscribe to Netflix, PrimeTV, Hulu, AppleTV and HBO Max at the same time. If you love TV and movies but need to cut back for your budget, there are some great options through the Knox County Public Library. Kanopy and Hoopla offer thousands of movies, TV shows, music albums and even graphic novels.

On Hoopla, patrons can check out 7 movies, TV shows, music albums, or graphic novels per month. British series from the BBC and Acorn TV are especially popular with library patrons. Titles include “Agatha Raisin,” “The Brokenwood Mysteries,” “Doc Martin,” “Murdoch Mysteries” and many more. Some favorites on Kanopy, which allows 5 checkouts per month, include “The Big Short,” “Romeo and Juliet” (1968) and “What We Do in the Shadows.” Kids favorites include “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” and “Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs.”

If you’re old school and prefer DVDs, the library has thousands of those, too. Better yet, they can now be checked out for three weeks, and you can have up to 15 at a time. We can send them to your local branch within a couple of business days. You’d be surprised at how much content you can’t stream but can find in our collection.

Happy viewing!

Mary Pom Claiborne is assistant director for marketing, communications and development for Knox County Public Library. She writes a Wednesday feature for KnoxTNToday.com.