Students check out DVDs at Butler Library

Those still mourning the loss of Kim’s Video and Music and dissatisfied with its replacement Ricky’s NYC finally have something to cheer about: DVD rentals from Butler.
As of the beginning of September, the Butler Media Center, located in 208B Butler, is circulating the DVD collection donated by Kim’s after it closed last fall.

According to Nancy Friedland, Butler’s media services & film studies librarian, Kim’s gave Columbia 17,500 DVDs and 10,000 VHS tapes upon the closing of their Broadway and St. Mark’s Place stores. Friedland said Yongman Kim, the stores’ owner, told her “business had slowed” and there was “too much competition from Netflix and online viewing.”

“He donated his uptown store collection of rental titles to Butler Media in honor of the film division, School of the Arts,“ Friedland said. “The collection is strong in feature films, U.S. and foreign,” and there is a “good selection of television programming, anime, and assorted genres like horror and science fiction.”

According to Francie Mrkich, associate director of access services and head of delivery services, library staffers have been sorting through the DVDs since March. Currently, 2,000 films are available for rent in the Butler Media Center, and “each month more and more will be added,” Mrkich said, adding that she is “very excited to be able to offer circulating DVDs.”

There is, however, a strict rental policy on these new films. Students and staff can take out only two titles for up to three days, with a $7 daily fee for late returns and a maximum fine of $50. There are no renewals, recalls, or holds allowed. Faculty and officers can take out up to two titles for seven days. If the library deems a video lost, there is a replacement fee that varies by collection and a $30 processing fee on top of the fines.

Students appear extremely excited about this new offering, especially since the Butler Media Center’s hours have been extended this year to match the hours of the Butler Reserve Desk.

“I personally plan to take advantage of this new resource for movies,” Jason Suen, SEAS ’12, said. “I am so excited that the opportunity to rent DVDs from Butler is now available to me. I also think this will decrease the number of students who illegally download movies.”

Some students, on the other hand, feel the strict rental policies are too burdensome. “It was really great that Kim’s donated these movies to Columbia,” Rebecca Chan, CC ’12, said. “However, I feel that Columbia is making these DVDs less appealing to check out because the late fees are unnecessarily high.”

The new hours of the Butler Media Center are Monday – Thursday 9 a.m. - 11 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. – 9 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., and Sunday 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.