O'Kelly wants its overdue DVDs

Borrow: To take or obtain, with the promise to return. 

The C.G. O'Kelly library staff at the media desk wants everyone to remember this definition when they utilize the DVD checkout service.

DVD checkout services began at the library during the 2004-05 academic year, when a policy was enforced that freshmen would not be permitted to have cars on campus. Winston-Salem State wanted to provide students with access to free entertainment [DVDs, CDs].

"A lot of times people are stuck on campus, and the DVD checkout is convenient and free," said Tomeka Watson, senior mass communications major from Chapel Hill. "Blockbuster and Red Box can be more of a hassle because you have to leave campus to find one." 

When the service first began, the DVD collection featured 100-150 titles, all kept at the circulation desk.     

Today, however, the DVD collection lists  more than 2,000 titles.   

"With books, laptops, and DVDs all being checked out at the circulation desk, things became very chaotic," said Jeffery McGill, media coordinator at CG O'Kelly library.

The library staff  moved the collection to the second floor so they could have more room to organize the DVD collection. 

 The past academic year,  more than 33,000 DVDs  were checked out, brought back, cleaned, and checked out again. In an average month, the library can circulate several thousand DVDs.  For example,  in December more than 3,000 DVDs were circulated.

"With this type of circulation, there's a lot of potential for things to go wrong, but our staff is great and they do very well at keeping things in order," McGill said.

The DVD collection is maintained by library staff with the help of two $3,000 machines that clean, polish, and buff out any scratches that may be on the discs.

"Caring for the DVDs is a very labor intensive process," McGill said.The collection is kept by a numerical system but is easy to get mixed up.  If one  places a  DVD  in the wrong case, it can take days to find it and place it in the correct case.  This can keep others from being able to check out the DVD until it is located.

Checking out a DVD is done the same way as checking out a book. The service is available to all WSSU students, faculty, and staff. All patrons in good standing with the library are allowed to check out up to three DVDs at a time, for a period of three days. Borrowers must present a valid Ram Card in order to check out the DVDs.

Budget decreases and late returns have caused a backlog in new release checkouts. According to the library staff, the ratio of purchasing popular DVDs has decreased by 50 percent. 

In the past two years, late returns have become such a problem that the library has become more vigilant in its DVD check-out policy. Borrowers who return their DVDs late will have a block put on their account and will not be allowed to checkout DVDs for 30 days. 

This does not prevent use of other library resources, just the popular DVDs. 

If a DVD is never returned, the patron will be charged the replacement cost of the DVD as well as a non-refundable $25 fee.

Of all the DVDs that the library checks out four out of 10 are returned late, and two out of 100 are never returned.

 McGill said that the library wants people to check out what they can watch in three days  so that others may have a chance to watch the popular movies.

"DVD checkout is a privilege, and when you abuse that, it gets taken away; one time is usually enough," McGill said.