General question for all that use their library...

[slor]

Does the library you use charge for videos or music? Thanks for responding.

Also, would you approve of this, if your library could possibly close, due to a lack of funding?

[SmokingJacket]

1. No.

Unless you bring them back late!

Heck, they're not blockbuster...

[slor]

10. True, we are not blockbuster...

so maybe we should get out of the video business.

[slor]

11. True, we are not blockbuster...

so maybe we should get out of the video business.

[SmokingJacket]

14. Plus....

the movies get stolen and destroyed incredibly often. I'm no librarian, but I'm not sure the tax payers are getting their money's worth.

[dmr]

2. No, not at all n/t

[atommom]

3. Nope. Depending on the type of video, though, some have a shorter

checkout period.

[Demit]

4. Philadelphia Free Library--no. You can keep videos out a week, but

overdue fines are stiff: $4 per video per day overdue.

[noamnety]

5. No.

And they will get them for me for free from other libraries if they don't have it. In one case I wanted to show an obscure documentary to my class, and my library (in Michigan) could only find one copy of the video - in Florida. They had it delivered here for me to pick up. I had it for free for 3 weeks.

I love my library.

[ogradda]

17. I have a library like that.

They have borrowing privileges with other libraries and they'll get stuff they don't have from them for you. Now my mom's library is grim. Stiff fines, 7 day checkouts, tiny selection of books. We only live about 3 miles from each other but we're in different cities. I get stuff for her from my library all the time.

[jmm]

6. I've never been to a library that charges

for videos or music. Some of them have had a better selection than others and would go further to get me copies of stuff. If a library is lacking money it should be funded better but charging for videos or music isn't the solution. Videos and music can be just as educational as books and many of the items which are less than scholarly are donated to them. Which is why my last library had so many Destiny's Child Cd's.

[B Calm]

7. NO

[AlCzervik]

8. no charges but the hours have been cut down 3 times since september

The city can come up with 20 million for a new state of the art city hall which we didn't need but won't fund the library.

[blondeatlast]

I work for a major library system. We don't charge for A/V material, but

we are badly taken advantage of.

You'd be shocked at the losses we incur from A/V items never being returned. Many of these items end up sold at swap meets and pawn shops.

We just recently upped the fines for these items...

the overdue charges are now a whopping 20 cents a day, same as for print material.

I think we should charge, frankly, since we carry more popular titles than we ought to, IMHO. I believe our A/V collection should be items of particular merit, not the latest Jackie Chan flick.

Alas, i only work there.

[atommom]

13. I worked in a public library, and we really did get fleeced by the public

on the A/V items. Many, especially DVDs and music CDs, were never returned. One notorious patron signed up for multiple cards, checked out the maximum number of CDs on each, and then pawned them all. We lost thousands of dollars ... I don't know whether any of it was recovered or not.

The A/V collection was also one of the best-loved parts of the library. But there's no denying it was very expensive to keep the collection maintained.

[blondeatlast]

9. I work for a major library system. We don't charge for A/V material, but

we are badly taken advantage of.

You'd be shocked at the losses we incur from A/V items never being returned. Many of these items end up sold at swap meets and pawn shops.

We just recently upped the fines for these items...

the overdue charges are now a whopping 20 cents a day, same as for print material.

I think we should charge, frankly, since we carry more popular titles than we ought to, IMHO. I believe our A/V collection should be items of particular merit, not the latest Jackie Chan flick.

Alas, i only work there.

[bklyncowgirl]

12. I'm a librarian--small public library

We don't charge for lending videos. The loan period is shorter and the fines are higher.

I do know some libraries that charge for popular videos but not for non-fiction. Library budgets are pretty bare boned and it's a source of funds. Don't agree with the policy but I can't blame them for doing it.

[NMMNG]

15. My library system does not charge for DVDs, videotapes or music

If they were on the verge of closing I wouldn't mind paying a nominal rental fee for DVDs and videos.

[LuPeRcALiO]

16. yes, there's at least one library in CA that does

in Riverside. There's a tape I've borrowed a couple of times for classes and it's $1.00.