Library Help!!?

Question

At my library all the good videos are always taken out or on hold. I go there almost every day and there is almost never any good movies in stock. Is there any way to get them without putting a hold on the first copy available?

Answer 1

I'm afraid that you are going to have to use the hold service for what you want.  I run into this with bestseller books I want to read (so does everyone else!) and have just had to learn patience and put a hold on the first available.  That is probably what everyone else is doing and why you're not able to find any of the good ones in when you go.

Answer 2

No. Unfortunately, Libraries cannot buy massive quantities of items. Sometimes they do in anticipation of demand (like the latest/last Harry Potter book), but DVD's are circulated just like books in most cases.

Libraries simply do not have the budget to responsibly compete with big budget video chains like Blockbuster. You can get yourself into the Hold queue, and hope everyone ahead of you got fed up and denies the pick up request. That's your best bet to get it from the Library.

Answer 3

Please be aware that a library's hold system is one way for librarians to know that they need to order more of something. The software lets librarians run reports to see which titles have a lot of holds and may need more copies. So using the hold system could help frustration at both ends -- librarians who are trying to keep up with what's requested, and patrons who are trying to get what they want.

In general libraries don't have the budget to be like a DVD store with multiple copies of today's biggest release, so yes, you'll probably have to wait a few days. But using the hold system should cut down on your frustration.