Alongside the incredible 662 million ebooks, audiobooks, and digital magazines borrowed by library users in 2023, streaming video service Kanopy had its own record-setting year! 

In 2023, streaming video through libraries and colleges on Kanopy reached a record 23 million plays, which is a 9 percent increase over 2022. At a time when paid subscription-based streaming video services are raising prices, more and more users are turning to their local public library for streaming entertainment. Kanopy gained 3.6 million new users in 2023 and overall 13 million hours were watched (I don’t know how much of that was from me but, uh, it was a lot).

Kanopy’s growth was supported by their upgraded flexible program models, an expanded catalog with new streaming titles including Academy Award winning Everything Everywhere All At Once, and the introduction of the highly anticipated Kanopy Kids subscription option. 

Here’s a look back at the movies, documentaries, and TV series users couldn’t stop watching on Kanopy in 2023.

Top films watched from libraries via Kanopy

  1. Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24) 
  2. Triangle of Sadness (Neon) 
  3. The YouTube Effect (Drafthouse Films) 
  4. Minari (A24) 
  5. The Green Knight (A24) 

Top documentaries watched from libraries via Kanopy 

  1. The YouTube Effect (Drafthouse Films) 
  2. Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy (Kino Lorber) 
  3. Kubrick by Kubrick (Level 33 Entertainment) 
  4. Florence and the Uffizi Gallery (Film Movement) 
  5. Some Kind of Heaven (Magnolia Pictures) 

Top TV series watched from libraries via Kanopy 

  1. Manhattan (Lionsgate) 
  2. Shakespeare and Hathaway: Private Investigators (BBC Studios) 
  3. SS-GB (BBC Studios) 
  4. The Forsyte Saga (PBS) 
  5. Alone (The History Channel)

About the author: Jill Grunenwald is a Marketing & Communications Specialist on the North America Public Library Marketing Team. A former librarian, she joined OverDrive in 2015. Outside of the office she can be found writing, hanging out with her cats, collecting more Tarot decks than she has room for, and playing competitive pinball. Her favorite genre is something she calls “Murder at an educational institution that involves a close-knit group of suspicious characters.”