Everything Old is New Again

Many years ago, best sellers were available for low weekly rental fees at neighborhood shops - drug stores, gift shops, department stores and according to Lee Kirk of The Prints and The Paper independent book shops.

Yesterday's Dallas Morning News caught my attention with a photo of bright pink book carts and an article describing a relatively new Dallas Public Library program called Street Smart.

The bright pink carts posted near the circulation desk offer a selection of 28 of the hottest best sellers and 40 popular DVDs. Each item can be checked out for a fee of $5. Books can be checked out for three weeks; DVDs for one week. It is strictly an impulse item. There are no holds on these items and no renewals. Regular late fees apply.

Best Sellers are available on the cart in all branches the day they are available in the store. Copies of each item available on the cart are also available through regular library circulation/hold system.

Once the demand drops for an item it will become part of the regular collection to fill the backlog of holds. For the period October to December 2008, the library reports just under 2,100 Street Smart Express items checked out.

Doing some Google searches, I found several libraries with similar programs. One that caught my eye was a library selling a $50 Friend card that included twelve rentals for the price of ten. In these tight budget times for our libraries, this strikes me as a great way to get seed money to start and maintain the program.

It will be interesting to watch communities develop and modify programs.