There is an editorial at Palo Alto Online titled “Why do the libraries carry DVDs?”
The editorial opens: Let us assume that stocking DVDs is a proper function of public libraries.
(I strongly disagree with that since supplying popular movies has nothing to do with literacy, education, citizenship, etc., and there are multiple low cost rental possibilities available to anyone. But, for the sake of argument let’s assume that it is proper.)
Editorial continued here.
collection development
the comment thread is actually fairly interesting and nuanced. One thing that I see the commenters dancing around but never getting into (not surprisingly, because they appear to be library patrons and not librarians) is the value the library provides with selection. There is some conversation about whether or not the educational materials available at the library can even be rented through Netflix, and a small amount of debate about the value of a library providing non-educational materials. What I would add, if I were to contribute to that discussion, would be to value the library provides in selection even among educational materials and non-educational materials. Unlike Netflix, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders, the library can be guaranteed not to be recommending movies on the basis of advertisers purchasing stealth advertising space, disguised as “the staff here suggest that if you like movie/book A, you will love movie/book B”.
shorter David
Why isn’t everyone more like me? They should be! You can get that all on the Internet! I internet the Internet using the Internet all the time! I know more about your business than you do. It can’t be hard. I see women doing it all the time.
Hey, youy kids, get off my lawn!
DVDs in Public Libraries
I’ve read most of the Palo Alto Online posts and I agree that this is a fascinating discussion. What’s been missing, however, is any mention of a post-DVD or, perhaps, post-book future. Nearly all of the replies seem to confuse format with content. If one views the library as a facilitator for the communication of information, any discussion of format becomes irrelevant. In the not-too-distant future, electronic delivery could render all current formats – including books – obsolete. In this context, the notion that books are good and that DVDs are bad is absurd.
What I’m reading from the majority of posts is a difference of opinion not so much on format as on content. Many seem to regard educational videos as somehow worthier than their Hollywood blockbuster counterparts. One might assume that these video elitists would similarly value Shakespeare’s books over those of Nora Roberts and Bach’s CDs over those of Clay Aiken.
We can’t lose sight of the “public” in our public libraries. Individual preferences – e.g., educational versus popular materials – must not control the content of our library collections; that is, unless we choose to condone censorship.