Access digital content from a consortium of libraries from across the state.
Never stop learning with hundreds of unique courses to capture your curiosity.
The Great Courses
Libby/Hoopla account required for access.
About The Great Courses: Library Collection
The Great Courses: Library Collection provides access to a vast selection of high-quality educational courses in video and audio format. It features a wide range of courses taught by expert professors and lecturers, covering various subjects such as history, science, philosophy, literature, economics, and more.
The courses are presented in a lecture format, with each course consisting of multiple lectures that are typically 30-45 minutes in length. The content is designed to be engaging and accessible to a wide range of audiences, including lifelong learners, college students, and high school students.
The Great Courses: Library Collection offers a convenient way to learn and expand one’s knowledge base at any time and anywhere. The service provides supplemental materials, such as course guides, reading lists, and quizzes, to enhance the learning experience.
Overall, The Great Courses: Library Collection is a valuable resource for those seeking high-quality educational content in a broad range of subjects, taught by some of the best educators in the world.
Multiple Ways to Access
The Great Courses: Library Collection is available through multiple platforms for your convenience. There’s a few key differences you should know.
Libby and Hoopla both allow you to access the full collection offered by the Great Courses: Library Collection using any browser on your computer or mobile device. After seven days, patrons will need to re-visit Libby or Hoopla to get another pass to continue their courses.
Kanopy allows you to access most of the Great Courses collection but may not include every course offered through the Great Courses website. The biggest advantage using Kanopy is that you don’t have to get a new pass every 7 days, you can create watch lists and watch the videos using any Kanopy app on any device.
No matter which service you use to access the Great Courses, all videos are instantly available and allow for unlimited viewing.
Libby Extras
Login to Libby using your library card and get access to even more entertainment and educational resources. You’ll find these resources under the “Extras” section of Libby. Through Libby you can access exclusive services like AristWorks, Stingray Classica, Craftsy, Craftsy Español, iNDIEFLIX, Qello Concerts by Stingray, and The Great Courses!
What’s even better, extras don’t count against the borrowing limit in Libby!
To get started with an Extra, tap the service you want, then tap Get. This will take you out of Libby to get access to the service. Your library card gives you free access, but some providers may require you to create an account before you can use their service.
Note: You may see prompts for discounts and other promotions while accessing providers’ services. These can be safely ignored. Those are intended for users who pay out of their own pockets for those services.
For all extra resources except Kanopy, you borrow access to the service for a set amount of time. Often 7 day passes but some are longer. Borrowed services appear on your “shelf” so you can easily get back to them during your access period. Access periods vary by provider, but you can use the service as much as you’d like during your access period.
For Kanopy, you don’t borrow access to the service. Instead, tapping “Get“ takes you directly to the Kanopy app (once it’s installed), where you can borrow as many titles per month as your library allows. Since you’re not borrowing the service, Kanopy doesn’t appear on your “Shelf,” and you can access your account any time directly in the Kanopy app.
Enjoying your videos from your tablet, phone, or computer couldn’t be easier while on your home network. Follow the instructions below on how to set that up and use it on your particular device.
Use AirPlay to stream video or mirror the screen of your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
Yes! There’s no limit to the amount of times you can access any of the services offered in Libby extras .
Libby’s extras are only for patrons of the Laurel County Public Library and it’s hidden from the rest of the users in the Kentucky Libraries Unbound consortium.
Just login with your library card and you should be able to view and access all the extras.
Hoopla BingePass
With Hoopla’s BingePass one borrow gives you unlimited access to stream entire collections of content for seven days. Some BingePasses let you explore directly through a partner’s platform, while others give you access to whole collections of content on Hoopla.
After you borrow a BingePass, you can access the content immediately. To access the content again, you can find your BingePass in the Borrowed section of My Hoopla.
Once you’ve borrowed a BingePass, you’ll be logged into the BingePass partner website or app where you can explore all they offer, directly through their platform. Some passes keep you on the Hoopla website or app and simply allows you to borrow from exclusive collections.
When your borrow period is up, you can borrow the same BingePass again.
Follow these instructions, depending on your device:
- iOS devices: In the bottom bar of the app, select the More button. If it is not already selected, tap the BingePasses tab at the top of the screen.
- Android devices: At the top of the main screen in the app, you’ll see a set of buttons featuring the types of content available (e.g., Audiobooks, Comics, Ebooks, etc.). Swipe to the left to show more options, and BingePasses will be the last button in the row.
- In a browser: Find BingePasses under the Browse menu or by visiting the BingePass page with this link »
- All devices: Use the search bar to search for “BingePass.”
Once you have located the BingePass collections, select the collection you’d like to borrow a BingePass for and press the Borrow button.
Can’t find BingePasses in your app? Try updating your Hoopla app and then following the directions above.
What it’s great for:
- Wide range of subjects
- Learn at your own pace
- Supplemental materials
Works best on:
- Computers (web browser)
- Tablets (web browser)
- Mobile Phones (web browser)
- Televisions (Airplay/Casting)
Get the App
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Frequently Asked Questions
You first need a library card and either a Libby, Hoopla, or Kanopy account. In Libby you can find it in the “Extras” section. On Hoopla you can find it under the “Bingepass” section. On Kanopy you can find it by searching for “the great courses”.
Note: If you’re using the Libby or Hoopla app on your phone or tablet, you’ll need to stay within that app’s browser to continue to access that service.
You can stream your lectures as many times as you want.
If you already have the viewer open, there are buttons for “previous lecture” and “next lecture” that you can select. The lecture number and title are always displayed, so you know which lecture you’re streaming at all times.
You can also visit Libby , Hoopla or Kanopy’s website to get more help.
