Library waiting list for "An Inconvenient Truth"

[InvisibleTouch]

When I went to give my copy of the DVD to the library today, I checked the waiting list, just out of curiosity. It's currently at 927! I'm sure there was a huge jump in requests between yesterday and today.

The librarian I talked to was pretty blase' about the donation - either she was a freeper-type, or just had no clue about the significance of this movie. She barely even said thank-you, but what the hell - it's doing more good in circulation than sitting at home on my shelf. Not much of a dent in that 927, but I imagine every little bit helps.

[durtee librul]

1. Hubby said on the news today

that he heard that pope were calling into the tv station to see where they could get the dvd.....anything that brings global warming to the front and center can't be bad. Hope it doesn't fade away and the interest stays high.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

23. The Pope can't get his hands on An Inconvenient Truth?

:rofl:

[Divernan]

2. Ask her if there are now or ever have been any comparably long waiting lists for non-fiction.

Next time you're there. And whether she's watched it herself yet.

[InvisibleTouch]

7. I did mention there were over 900 people on the list...

...and it seemed to make zero impression. She acted like she was doing me a favor by accepting the DVD. Wish I'd said to her, "You really need to watch this." In any case, somebody will be watching it soon.

[MedleyMisty]

3. Cool.

My husband works at the library. He thought to check the waiting list for the next Harry Potter book by himself, but I might have to ask him to check out the list for An Inconvenient Truth.

[karlrschneider]

4. I need to get a copy myself...I guess Amazon is as good as any place ?

Also, would it be kosher to make copies and give them away? I did that with Fahrenheit 9/11 (with permission)...

[Bigmack]

5. It had some kind of copy guard...

Do you have something that beats it?

[karlrschneider]

6. I dubbed it onto to VHS tapes. When it came out, not many people out here

in the boondocks had DVD players.

[Bigmack]

13. I used to do that all the time...

on the GOVideo VHS/DVD machines, but now all the DVDs from Netflix have a copy guard on them.

[karlrschneider]

16. Yes but it can't prevent you from making an analog copy...

:-)

[frazzledmom]

9. Ok you didn't hear this from me...

There are about 500 programs that will allow you to dupe this thing on your PC. Try "The Google" Look for this program DVDRipper. You are opening a can of worms though, you'll need to know how to do many things like convert media files and burn VOB files to DVD.. You will spend quite a bit of time looking at FAQ's and things but they are handy to know for making backups of DVD's. This is especially handy if you have kids, my kids ruin more DVD's than you can possibly imagine...

[porphyrian]

21. And, I'd like to add, keep in mind that tampering with copyright protections is illegal...

...and, though there is little chance that they'd go after a single individual for doing so, it is possible. The RIAA did go after a bunch of individuals who were illegally sharing copyrighted music, after all.

[TexasLawyer]

8. Buying more copies for your library is a great idea

It's a nice contribution and you'll know that you helped people to watch the movie and learn about global warming.

Before the 2004 election, I got together with some fellow Dems at work and we bought TONS of copies of Fahrenheit 9/11 and put them in all the county libraries in Fort Bend County, TX (Tom DeLay's district). The libraries didn't have ANY copies before we sent them some-- called first to make sure they would be accepted and circulated.

I checked frequently on the status of "our" movies on-line. They were moving like hotcakes and even getting loaned out to other area libraries.

Fun!

[Lisa]

10. great job! There is plenty of excitement from the staff at my local branch ...

... to share with you, for your good deed, InvisibleTouch! I brought in a copy of AIT and also one of "Who Killed the Electric Car?", and the chief librarian was so excited that she lunged for them and made sure they went down to Cataloguing pronto, to make it onto the shelf by the end of the week.

Oh, and to add to what TexasLawyer said ... making friends with a staffer (and I guarantee you that there are probably a bunch at your library who are very keen on that movie, even if that one particular person wasn't) can really help expedite the process. I give them all kinds of DVDs regularly, and even the most controversial stuff gets accepted now, no probs.

[InvisibleTouch]

11. Glad to hear your library was appreciative!

And I know there are people at mine who are appreciative as well. I just didn't happen to encounter one. Ultimately that's not the point, of course. I hope the movie's already been loaned out!

At some point I will buy another copy, because I do want it in my own collection, but, no hurry.

[Kelly Rupert]

12. Thanks for your donation, still. If you change the mind of one person,

you done good. And I'm guessing that you'll reach more than one person, with that waiting list.

[in_cog_ni_to]

14. I gave 2 copies to our village Library as a 'Holiday' gift. They probably threw them in the garbage,

knowing the RW freaks who live around here. I should stop in there and ask if they have a copy of it....just to see what they say.

[blm]

15. My local libraries have been grateful - I have donated 4 copies by now.

The requests for it have probably increased, so we should all work to get them additional copies.

[kath]

17. Just reserved a copy through our library system, and when I checked

where I was in the queue, it said this:

80 are before you for: An inconvenient truth
The library has 17 copies to satisfy the request(s).
Total Waiting: 81; next request has been waiting since: 12/27/06

This is the Oklahoma County library system in OK, serving OKC and surrounding area. Red State Hell, but even here people have had to wait 2 months to get a copy.

With more than 900 people waiting in your library system, how many copies do they have in circulation?

[InvisibleTouch]

18. 63 copies in the whole system.

3 at my particular branch, but they order reserves back and forth between branches as they become available.

[blm]

19. Call your local Dem party office and ask them if their members would donate

their copies to the local branches.

I know our local party is always sending heads up of interest emails to the area volunteers and active party members.

[Lisa]

28. another library thing -- replacement copies will be needed down the line

So DUers who are thinking of doing this but are hesitant to just hand over an almost-new release, hang onto your "Inconvenient Truth" copies and maybe donate them a few months from now, when you've watched them several times and are cleaning out your collections.

Maybe the librarians on this thread can weigh in on this, but from what I've heard, DVDs in these situations frequently need to be replaced, as they wear out, break, or (alas) get purloined. I did a bit of research, talking to my local library and also to some video store people, and it seems that the public library system is even tougher on DVDs than rental places! The librarians said that they are lucky to get 50 take-outs on a DVD -- for some reason, the old VHS tapes were more resilient. They had one tape that had been taken out 300 times, over a period of more than a decade, and it was still playable. They bought a resurfacing machine to try to extend the lives of their DVDs, but still, I've been tracking my donations to the system (over 200 since they started the collection back in 2003), and more than half of them aren't in service anymore.

Personally I get a huge ego boost when "my" choices turn out to be so popular that they're wearing out in service, or being swiped! (Some of them I've replaced 3 or 4 times.)

Public library DVDs have a good chance of reaching people who haven't been able to go to the movies because they can't afford the tickets or the babysitter ... also the elderly, shut-ins, and others who just can't get to the video store ... and maybe some folks who scoff at "leftist" movies but secretly want to see them, without laying out the bucks at the ticket booth or rental place (and despite themselves, end up thinking about the ideas presented). I have decided that all these things are so important, I don't mind giving up part of my collection, or scouring eBay for "must see" DVDs that the library has requested.

[RebelOne]

22. If you want to see it now, it's on this Web site.

http://throwawayyourtv.com/2007/01/inconvenient-truth-doc-videoroll.html

[geiger]

20. Speaking as a trained librarian, I recommend you speak directly to the Director

and tell that person that they need to order about twenty more copies. Since funding partly depends on circulation, it's in the library's interest, despite a grouch not wanting to be bothered.

[Lisa]

25. my library contacts told me that they have an automatic "need to order more" alert

... when the number of holds goes over a certain threshold. Either someone wasn't tracking the stats, or maybe they are having ordering/funding bottlenecks? It took my local branch a couple of months to get their extra copies of the Gore movie, because their out-of-town supplier was having problems meeting the demand (and all the local stores were sold out) -- that's why I ended up buying some DVDs online for them. In my experience the vast majority of librarians (no matter how "grouchy"!) can be trusted to put their personal feelings aside in this kind of situation.

As you say, libraries benefit when they are perceived as being able to fill the patrons' requests. Our local branch just won a scuffle with their Orders Dept downtown, over a refusal to order more kids' movies. The branch chief said that she had always figured that she would be nailing her colors to the mast -- for Fellini, Kurosawa, or even Michael Moore, not Jim Carrey and Mike Myers! But she noted that if Central was going to quibble about "quality" issues for the AV collection, that was hypocritical since the library had all kinds of crappy bodice-rippers on the shelves. The next day, she wore her "There is something in my library to offend everyone" T-shirt to work.

[geiger]

26. libraries are great, aren't they?

[Lisa]

29. I confess that I burst into tears, when the library staff surprised me ...

... with a care package they'd put together, this past holiday season. They said that they wanted to thank me for all the items I'd donated, and the time I'd spent tracking down DVDs for them (like the out-of-print Disney movie that someone accidentally broke while taking it out of the case, with 10 people still on the waiting list and no other copies in the system).

They really are great places! Our culture would be much worse off without them. And especially public libraries (not just private, or academic collections) -- there's something about sharing books, rather than keeping them locked up, which is so inspiring.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

24. I donated 4 copies to a raffle at my son's afterschool...(funny story)

It's a fundraiser for a mom of one of the kids who has cancer.

The other day I was with a group of local women I don't know very well; politics came up and one of them commented how I had donated this DVD to the raffle, trying making the point that I was "far left!" This woman herself is a moderate Republican as far as I can tell. I think she expected all of the other women to laugh at me for being a crazy leftie for donating this radical DVD to the raffle.

ALL of the other 4 women in the car cheered when they heard this, as in "you go, girl!"
One of them said she has been working on a peace shrine in her house since the war started, and keeps adding to it.

It was funny because I think my semi-Repub friend automatically assumed that all of these other women would ridicule me, too.

[Lisa]

30. you "crazy leftie", you!

I'm glad that the other people weighed in on your side -- it's those things that make it all worthwhile. And Al himself made the point, during the Oscar presentation, that this is a non-partisan issue that will affect everyone. (Kind of like national parks, which have become symbols of America -- not some weird sentimental tree-hugging special interest.)

I am donating a copy of the DVD to the local progressive party silent auction fundraiser, along with a package of those compact energy-saving bulbs.

[SmokingJacket]

27. Donations = "more work" to library employees.

I know at my library, when I volunteered, the librarians felt very overworked and underappreciated. They were not appreciative of anything that made more work for them.

So *I'll* thank you for donating!! Think of it this way: if there was only one other copy of that movie, you've DOUBLED the speed of the waiting list! If there were two other copies, you increased it by 50%!