The Best Free And Legal Video Streaming Services Offered By Libraries

The video streaming service wars are ramping up: In addition to the big names like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, there's the niche services like Shudder and Crunchyroll, plus the upcoming services: Disney and WarnerMedia are planning to launch their own offerings in 2019. Naturally, you're expected to subscribe to all of them in order to keep up with what your friends are talking about.But forget about the ending of Russian Doll for a second. In the rush to keep up with the latest shows, it's easy to forget the less buzzy but much cheaper option: Relying on your local public library's free video streaming service. In fact, plenty of people don't realize that this is even an option, let alone one offered by multiple different services. Here are the major players that are worth checking out.In all cases, you'll need a library card to use these services, and your local library system will need to have partnered with each service, so only some or none might be available, and the selection of titles available might vary between library systems. Kanopy is the gold standard for free streaming services: It offers a selection of films from the Criterion Collection, films from prestigious film distributor A24, and classics from Paramount Pictures, among others. It has schlocky slasher films too, like Black Christmas and Zombi 2.