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GOOD
& SERVICES FEATURE STORY
Free Expression
Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s library system loans more
than
1.5 million DVDs in the past year
by Felix Winternitz
The technology of watching movies at home — like all technology
— changes constantly. Blockbuster continues to dominate the
rental market (winning the Readers Picks again), though DVDs now
are as widespread as videos — and you don’t have to
rewind them.
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Robert
Hudzik
Photo By: Matt Borgerding
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Cable and satellite
services, meanwhile, deliver movies to your house, often on demand.
But the price tag can be steep.
And then there’s the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton
County, where DVDs are the system’s fastest-growing category.
And the price can’t be beat: free to anyone with a library
card.
“Circulation is up at the library, despite having to cut hours
systemwide in January 2003 by 10 percent,” says Richard Helmes,
a spokesperson for the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton
County. “The biggest increase was in DVD circulation. Last
year library users borrowed more than 1.5 million DVDs from the
main library and 41 branches.”
The most popular feature film DVDs requested in the past year: The
School of Rock, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black
Pearl, The Godfather (complete set), Lost in Translation
and The Lord of the Rings (Fellowship of the Ring and The
Two Towers). The most popular documentaries/TV DVDs: Bowling
for Colum-bine, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Tyler Perry’s
Diary of a Mad Black Woman and The Elegant Universe.
“DVD circulation was up 86 percent throughout the (library)
system for 2003,” according to Robert Hudzik, manager of the
Films and Recordings Department of the Public Library. “For
the month of December alone, it was up 99 percent.”
By contrast, VHS circulation actually went down in 2003 as compared
to the year previous. In 2003, 453,572 VHS videos were checked out
at the main branch, as opposed to 490,357 videos in 2002 (a 7.5
percent decrease).
In 2003, 225,650 DVDs were checked out at the main branch versus
155,204 DVDs in 2002 (a 45 percent increase).
One other popular collection is audiobooks on CD. For last year,
circulation was up 56 percent.
October 2003 was the highest monthly circulation in the library’s
150-year history, setting the record at 1,323,526 items. Overall
circulation in 2003 was 14,861,011 items, a 3 percent increase.
Last year, the library:
• Answered 1,572,064 reference questions;
• Added 515,027 items to the collection;
• Provided 15,094 periodical and 474 newspaper subscriptions;
• Served 403,531 active, registered borrowers;
• And reached 337,249 people with 16,169 free programs. ©
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