1 of 7

Write now Article Tools

The Cheapest and Best Video Store in the World: Your Public Library

I was surprised recently when I discovered that my local library in Bellingham, Washington had lots of feature movies. By lots of movies I mean more than 2,500 feature films. I knew there were lots of documentaries, travelogues, and how-to videos, but I discovered quite by accident that feature films were available too. I discovered, too, that using the library as your source for movies has several distinct advantages over using the local Blockbuster or subscribing to Netflix.

First among these advantages for me is that I can use the online catalog to search for movies. Not only can I search for movies while I'm at the library but I can access my library's catalog online and do my searching from home. No longer do I have to walk around the video store walking up and down the aisles looking for movies while being forced to listen to the constantly looping teasers for movies I've never heard of and would never watch if I had heard of them. Instead I can peacefully access my local library's catalog online and browse at my own pace. In addition, by using the catalog I can search for movies by title, by actor, or by movie type. One very cool feature of the library's search program is that once you pull up a record for a movie you can find lots of Internet links that can connect you with similar movies. For example, I'm a big fan of Humphrey Bogart. So recently I typed in "Bogart" under the "Author/Performer/Composer" category of my library's catalog. Twenty-four titles were listed. Some were the familiar and delightful movies such as "African Queen", "High Sierra", and "Casablanca." However there were others that were less well known or even unknown to me such as: "Bullets or Ballots" with Edward G. Robinson and Joan Blondell, "Dead End" with Joel McCrea, and "The Desperate Hours" with Frederick March. Each of these movies had links that led me to other Edward G. Robinson movies such as "The Cincinnati Kid" with Karl Malden, Steve McQueen, and Ann-Margret and "Our Vines Have Tender Grapes" where Robinson plays the kind, understanding Norwegian father of Margaret O'Brien. Naturally each of these movies led me to others.

Another great feature of the library catalog helped me once I had built a list of movies I wanted to check out. The Bellingham Library has a feature called "My Wish List" whenever I see a book or movie I want I can click on the "Add to My Wish List" button and the title is copied to

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Comparing DVD rental services ?
We want to hear your view. Write now!