SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (March 9, 2021) – To better understand streaming video trends and challenges, Kanopy, a company committed to streaming high-quality films that inspire, educate and entertain to libraries around the globe, conducted a survey of more than 800 academic librarians, primarily in the U.S. The survey results are freely available upon registration.

Among other findings, the survey revealed that the pandemic has spiked a significant increase in demand for streaming video among faculty and students that is expected to continue post-Covid. This trend is presenting challenges for budget-strapped librarians to meet all of their user needs including for films that are diverse, equitable and inclusive. 77.2% of survey participants say DEI is "extremely" to "very" important to their streaming video selection, yet just 25.8% believe they are fully meeting their students' needs for such content.

"A major focus of our college overall, including curriculum, is diversity, equity, and inclusion. We have one of the most diverse student populations in Washington state higher education, most from a lower socio-economic status," explained Jack Harton, Reference Librarian, Highline Community College in Des Moines, Washington.

Other key survey findings include:

• In 2020, 52.7% of participants say they spent more than 5% of their materials budgets on streaming video compared to 18.2% on DVDs. This trend is expected to continue as 54.2% of participants say their budgets for streaming video will increase over the next three years compared to just 3.7% for DVDs.
• 24.7% say perpetual access is their preferred streaming video acquisition model followed by subscription (21.9%), firm/upfront order (17.0%) and PDA/DDA ( 14.9%).
• 16.3% of participants say faculty recommendations are the leading method of streaming video discovery followed by the library catalog (15.6%) and discovery services (15.0%).
• 68.2% say incorporating streaming video into class assignments increases student engagement and 30.1% are unsure.
• 52.0% of participants do not believe it is their library's responsibility to provide students and faculty with streaming video for entertainment purposes.

"The streaming video landscape is changing significantly, and the pandemic along with related campus closures and sheltering in place, has played a major role," said Kanopy CEO Kevin Sayar. "We are grateful to the librarians who took the time and effort to participate in our survey, which has given us insight into these trends and challenges at a deeper level. This knowledge will help us to prioritize our product roadmap and innovate new products and features to make quality streaming video more affordable and accessible to libraries worldwide."

About Kanopy

Kanopy partners with libraries and filmmakers around the globe to give patrons, students and faculty free access to high-quality films that stimulate imagination, promote learning, and spark meaningful conversations. Many films on Kanopy, including from iconic film companies such as A24, Criterion Collection, Paramount, PBS and Kino Lorber, are unavailable elsewhere. The Kanopy app is available on iOS and Android along with all major streaming devices, including Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Samsung Smart TV. For more information, please visit www.kanopy.com.