by: Kim Velsey
Red boxes, red envelopes and the blue and yellow Blockbuster stores may dominate the movie rental landscape, but according to a recent survey, when Americans want to watch a DVD, they are most likely to turn to their local library.
The survey, released this year by OCLC, a nonprofit library co-operative and research organization, found that public libraries in the United States lend an average 2.1 million videos every day, slightly more than the 2 million that Netflix ships. The other top two competitors, Redbox and Blockbuster, come in at 1.4 million and 1.2 million respectively, according to daily averages provided by company representatives.
The findings were part of a report called "How Libraries Stack Up," which highlights the many roles that libraries play in communities, according to OCLC market analysis manager Peggy Gallagher. It also includes statistics on career assistance and Wi-Fi use — the extent of which might be surprising to the general public or even to businesses offering similar services.
"I think of libraries as places for books," said Steve Swasey, Netflix's vice president of corporate communications, adding that Netflix doesn't view public libraries as a competitor.
"It's free," said Swasey, "so it's a whole different model."
Libraries have been lending movies for decades, of course, but the size and scope of the offerings have changed vastly, from smatterings of PBS documentaries on VHS to smorgasbords of new releases, art house and hard-to-find foreign films, children's movies and TV shows on DVD and Blue-ray.
In the past 10 years, public libraries in the United States have doubled their movie collections — from 73.5 video materials per 1,000 people in 1999 to 166.7 in 2008, according to the most recent study by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. At the same time, print materials fell from 2,846 volumes per 1,000 people to 2,767 volumes.
In Connecticut, as in the rest of the country, books still make up the vast majority of library collections — 14.2 million books to 927,000 movies — but movies have a much higher circulation rate, according to Connecticut State Library statistician Tom Newman. They account for about 27 percent of library circulation.
"People think we're all about books," said Debbie Herman, president of the Connecticut Library Association. "But we have all these other resources to offer."
Netflix still dominates in Connecticut, with some 55,000 movies being shipped out of the Hartford distribution center daily, vs. 23,923 library checkouts (Redbox, a far runner-up, rents 13,000 movies per day from Connecticut kiosks). But librarians say that demand for movies is growing.
"Friday nights, the hour before we close, it's like a video store," said Simsbury Library Director Susan Bullock. "People are running to get their movies before the weekend."
Catering to patrons has contributed to the circulation surge at Simsbury and many other libraries. Bullock said that circulation boomed after the library figured out what kinds of movies people want to see: "24," "Inspector Poirot," "Star Trek," "Stargate," "I Love Lucy," "The Dick Cavett Show," BBC shows and foreign films.
Barbara Bailey, director of Glastonbury's Welles-Turner Memorial Library, said that the library also welcomes requests, buying multiple copies of new releases and each year's Oscar-nominated films.
"Traditionally, libraries have tried to concentrate on educational movies and award winners," Bailey said. "Right now … if it looks like something that will be watched by many people, we go ahead and buy it."
The policy results in both critically acclaimed and blockbuster titles: Due to popular demand, West Hartford just added 200 titles from the Criterion collection, an art house distributor, according to community services librarian Joseph Cadieux.
"Libraries want to serve our communities," said Herman of the Connecticut Library Association.
There is, of course, another enormous reason for library movies' popularity: They're free, a not insignificant quality, especially during the recession, when library use rose in Connecticut and across the country.
Felix Kossi, a student at Capital Community College, said that he checks movies out of Hartford Public Library twice a week. The visits, he said, were economically motivated, although not by the recession.
"I used to buy movies," Kossi said. "But I stopped because my friends would borrow them and not bring them back."
Jose Rosa, browsing the DVD selection in Manchester's Mary Cheney Library last week, said that cost is a factor for him as well — he's a big movie watcher and supplements a streaming Netflix subscription with the library's variety of older titles.
Largely, though, he likes the library because it's a library. He can look at movies while his 12-year-old son finds books to take home.
He noted that it also provides a personal touch: The librarians are really helpful. With neighborhood video stores nearly extinct, libraries are one of the few places where people can flip through movies and trade recommendations with one another.
"Netflix will give you the newest releases," said Library Director Douglas McDonough, "but there is a big social function to libraries."
Herman added that the debate over whether movies belong in libraries, has, she believes, been settled.
"Do movies help educate, promote literacy, contribute to the forum of ideas?" said Herman. "Then I think there is a place for them."
From: Hartford Courant
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