SCRIMP>>I’ve been “renting” movies from my Greater Victoria Public Library branch for about a month now. Each time I head home with a few DVDs tucked into my bag, I feel slightly clandestine. I scout through the films on display, choose the ones I want, present them at check-out, PAY NOTHING, and leave.
Am I the only one who hadn’t realized the library offered this service?
Patrons can choose from either three-day or seven-day titles. The newest films go into rotation in the three-day section first, to promote faster circulation among viewers. Here you’ll find many of the movies that appear in the New Releases section of the big rental shops. Just don’t go in expecting to find any one specific movie on the shelves; DVDs come and go here like a merry-go-round. While you can put a hold on a specific movie you want to see, new and popular Hollywood action films and romances may have hold lists up to 100 patrons long.
The best way to pick up library movies is to embrace a degree of universal randomness. It’s a bit like shopping in consignment stores in that way. (A topic I’ll address soon in another Scrimp or Splurge entry.) You must choose from what’s on offer at any given time. As a result, I’ve seen some wonderfully quirky films, little-known indie and foreign films—movies I’d otherwise never have given a moment’s notice. I just watched a really fine, inherently Canadian idie flick called One Week, about a young Toronto man who is diagnosed with an advanced, aggressive cancer and sets out on a cross-country motorcycle trip while he absorbs the transformative news. I highly recommend it.
Perhaps the nicest side benefit of getting movies from the library is that I never experience buyer’s regret, no matter how bad the movie. And because I can take out multiple titles at a time, I can always just pop in a new disk and try again.
Late fees do apply to movies: $1.50 per film per day, if you breach your three- or seven-day limit.
Most branches also have music CDs available for checkout. (Honey picked up some great Buddy Guy blues this week.) And the GVPL claims to be “one of the first public libraries in Canada to lend video games,” including PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox, Xbox 360, and Wii games. Currently, video games are available only from the Saanich Centennial Branch. Maximum two games per cardholder.
I feel a little queasy when I think what I’ve spent on rentals over the years, at $5 to $6.49 per movie. From now on, the rental shop is for splurge nights only, when I just HAVE to see a particular film. Shift over, little Starbucks card: my library card has a new place of honour in my wallet.
[...] By Anita, on January 24th, 2012 I love the public library system. Some time ago, I wrote about the impressive selection of DVD movies available through the Greater Victoria Public Library—compl…for checkout by library members. The library’s collection has become even more valuable of late, [...]
Games and music CDs are actually available at all Greater Victoria Public Library locations, or via a hold. Borrowers can also download free ebooks and audio to their mobile devices by accessing the Library To Go site on the library’s website.
Thanks for your message, Colleen. And hurrah for the library!
Cheers,
Anita