DVDs in danger of being phased out at Warren County Public Library

Low circulation numbers for DVDs and Audiobooks at Warren County Public Library are leading to their being phased out if things don’t change.

This media area, which is downstairs at the library, was once the most popular in terms of circulation, averaging over 1000 copies checked out each month according to Collection Management Librarian, David Scott. This popularity helped grow the collection to “somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 of 9 thousand DVDs.” one of the larger collections for library this size in the State.

Since Covid however, the numbers have drastically dropped to 100-150 dvd checkouts monthly. “We assume after Covid that everyone went to streaming,” said Scott, adding , “So that has tailed off a lot and also our audiobooks as cars stopped getting CD players put in them.”

But the news is not entirely bleak for audiobooks. “We have Play Aways, and they do pretty well and also our e-audios have really picked up,” recounted Scott. Concerning print media, things are even better: “people are checking out more now than before COVID.”

The DVD situation, though grim, holds promise as well. When asked what the space will be used for after they are phased out, Scott explained, “We’re putting a Maker’s Space in. We’ve got some heat presses, mug presses, we’ll have sewing machines, Cricut machines, and we’ll let people come in, hobbyists, small businesses… They want to do their stuff, we’ll provide the opportunity to do that.”

When asked if the DVDs can be saved by more public interest, Scott replied, “Yes, we’re here to give people what they want and if people want the movies and DVDs that’s what we’ll do.”

When asked if the public shows enough interest to save the DVDs will they not get a Maker’s Space, Scott replied, No, if we save the DVDs we’ll just make room and figure it out.”