Vast Active Library and Information Science blog. From a recent library science graduate in Wellington, New Zealand. A focus on reference and current awareness tools and issues, especially free, web-based resources.

 
Article from the Denver Post discussing the increasing prominence of non-book material in libraries. Nothing really new here, although I was surprised to find that " In Denver, 53 percent of all circulation now comes from the audio-visual collections, led by pop music on CDs, Hollywood hits on DVD, and bestselling books on tape" and "Buying DVDs will take nearly 20 percent of the total acquisition budget at Arapahoe Library District next year".

While it's obviously the place of the library to serve its customers needs, 20% of the budget purely on DVDs seems excessive. The article begins "There are 53 DVD copies of "Pirates of the Caribbean' on the shelf", and while it doesn't say which library this refers to, or their user population, 53 seems excessive. I liked Pirates of the Caribbean a lot, but really, how much demand will there be for it in two years? Doesn't seem like a great use of money.

Also somewhat chilling: "Most librarians say they aren't inclined to waste time waxing nostalgic about books. Library credos, local and national, proclaim the goal of providing information to all, with no bias in favor of the book." - which is fine. but we all know how much information is still [b]only[/b] available in books.



The Denver Post, 28 December 2003.

| posted by Simon at 10:30 am