january/february 2008 newsletter
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8109 Concord Road, Brentwood, TN  37027

Voice: 615-371-0090              Fax: 615-371-2238

Website: http://brentwood-tn.org/library

Judith Payton, Editor

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Many people turn to Consumer Reports for advice before making a big purchase. Now you can search this journal online through the Brentwood Library website. Patrons can login and access 4 years of ratings and view the current issue of the magazine, too. Access is available in the library and also from the patron’s home. There is no limit to the number of people who can log in at the same time.

The library will continue receiving two print copies of the magazine until February, when one of the subscriptions will expire. The second subscription has been renewed until February 2009.

consumerreports.org -- login: brentwoodlib, password: library

 HOW THE LIBRARY CAN SCARE YOUR COMPUTER TO DEATH

The scariest movie I ever saw as a kid was The House on Haunted Hill, an old black-and-white thriller starring Vincent Price. I remember sitting on the couch with my babysitter, eating popcorn and shaking in terror.

I was delighted when I saw that it is one of the classic movies available for downloading free from MyLibraryDV.  This is a new service available through the library’s web site. It’s great to be able to log in, download the movie, and begin watching in less than 10 minutes. I recently used my laptop to watch Elizabeth Taylor in The Last Time I Saw Paris and introduced my young son to John Wayne with Angel and the Badman.

MyLibraryDV also offers independent and foreign films, Antiques Roadshow episodes, and a great selection of travel videos. Children will enjoy watching Boobah, Caillou and Liberty Kids episodes. Try it out, and watch for changes as more movies and shows become available for downloading. It’s a trend of the future – so why wait? ~ Chuck Sherrill

THE LOGIC

Brentwood Library patrons expect to borrow the newest titles soon after they are released.  To meet that need, the library purchases multiple copies of the hottest items, processes them within a day, and keeps a careful watch on the balance between the size of the collection, the popularity of various types of material, and the borrowing habits of our users.  If these factors get out of balance, the “best” material is hardly ever available, and library visitors may go away empty-handed and unhappy.

THE LOSSES

Blockbuster and other video stores that dropped late fees a few years ago have found that if there are no penalties for late items, many patrons generally ignore deadlines, thinking of them more as guidelines.  "With the lack of any kind of late-fee structure, the movies weren't coming back. Customers would come in and there wouldn't be any movies for them to rent," lamented Randy Hargrove, a Blockbuster spokesman.*  As a result of this decline in customer satisfaction, approximately 30 percent of the Blockbusters initially participating in the fine-free program have dropped it.  In libraries, the situation is potentially worse: a student with a school project could check out every book, audio, and movie on a topic and keep them the entire semester, preventing others from obtaining titles on that topic.  If penalties are too low, especially for the newest movies or high-demand school titles, borrowers may decide to keep the items longer, which puts other members who follow the rules at a disadvantage.

THE LEADERS

The American Library Association cautions that fines should be established with care to ensure that they do not create economic barriers.  Brentwood’s overdue fines are low, particularly compared to economic status of our patrons.  At 50 cents per day, the DVD and VHS fine rate is the lowest in middle Tennessee and of any major market in Tennessee.  Nashville Public Library charges $2.00 per day, Williamson County Public Library and Knox County Public Library charge $1.00 per day, and Memphis Public Library charges a $2.00 checkout fee per DVD plus $1.00 per day overdue fee.

THE LESSONS

Public libraries were established so that people can pool their resources (often through taxes) to purchase and share information and recreational material.  Leslie Burger, former President of the ALA, defends fines: "People understand that it's part of the way our institutions do business," she says. "It recognizes that when somebody takes an item out from the library, they're entering into a contract to take it out for a certain period of time. When they decide to keep it out longer than that, they pay a fee."  Overdue fees can be viewed as the cost of renting the item beyond the time allocated by your membership to the library … and if you return it by the due date, rental is absolutely free!  ~ Ann Clapp, Circulation & Tech Services Librarian

*http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2005-12-15-blockbuster-latefees_x.htm