Happy Streaming, Peachtree City!

As I mentioned in my last column, circulation of digital items at Peachtree City Library is quickly gaining on our traditional circulation. Next year it may hit 40% of our total overall circulation. While we used to circulate a lot of DVDs, that format is becoming out-of-date with the rise in popularity of streaming services. While the pay per view model is not sustainable for our library, we’ve found a compromise with a streaming service called Kanopy.

Kanopy is an ad-free streaming service offering independent, documentary, foreign, and classic films for libraries. While they do offer pay-per-view service, they also have what they call Kanopy PLUS Packs. The PLUS Pack model gives us access to themed “packs” of movies we lease for a period of time with unlimited access for a flat fee. The packs we’ve elected to receive this year include: Favorites, World Cinema, British Cinema & TV, Family Friendly, and Kanopy Kids. Every quarter these packs will get a 20% refresh of rotating titles.

Creating an account with Kanopy is super easy. All you need is your PINES library card number (your home library must be Peachtree City Library) and an email address to get started. You’ll notice a lot of literary themed movies. My current recommendation is Wildcat, a film about Georgia author Flannery O’Connor, directed and co-written by four-time Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke. Starring Maya Hawke as O’Connor, Wildcat blurs the lines between reality, imagination, and faith in the Southern Gothic writer’s mind after being diagnosed with lupus at twenty-four years old. Some of the dream-line sequences portray the author’s work including short story favorites “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People.”

Last year my book club went on a field trip to Andalusia Farm in Milledgeville after reading “Good Country People.” If you haven’t been to Andalusia, it is worth the trip. I suggest reading “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and watching Wildcat before you go. To learn more about Flannery O’Connor and her work, I suggest reading this article from the Encyclopedia of the American Short Story available in Bloom’s Literature, an online database available with your library card.

Our subscription to Kanopy is our gift to you this holiday season, Peachtree City. We hope you enjoy it. Hopefully, it’s just the beginning. I’ve been describing the addition of this service as dipping our big toe in the water. Let us know what you think. Additional themed packs are available if we decide we like it.

Finally, I want to take the opportunity to plug our “Evening with the Author” event on January 9th with New York Times bestselling author Paula McLain. McLain is best known for her novel, The Paris Wife. Her other titles include A Ticket to Ride, Like Family: Growing Up in Other People’s Houses, Circling the Sun, Love and Ruin, When the Skies Go Dark, and the forthcoming Skylark (January 6, 2026). Event-only tickets are $15; event plus one (1) signed copy of Skylark are $35. It’s the perfect holiday gift for the reader on your list. The event will be held at the Crowne Plaza Peachtree City. Advance reviews of Skylark include a starred review in Library Journal. Our last “Evening with the Author” event back in July was sold out, so don’t wait to purchase your tickets.