Libraries lead the way to movie downloads

LIBRARY DVD GUIDE: OverDrive and Recorded Books reach many locations

By Cindy Spielvogel -- Video Business, 5/14/2007

Just as libraries have long acted as small-scale free video rental outlets, library Web sites are now beginning to offer some of the same titles as commercial digital rental sites.

Most of the downloadable titles being offered through libraries so far are of the special interest and indie film variety, but coming soon are major studio classic films and eventually some new releases.

Recorded Books, a supplier of downloadable material to libraries, plans to announce an agreement with major studios at the annual conference of the American Library Assn. June 21-27 in Washington, according to Recorded Books VP Brian Downing.

The company already offers titles from indie house Film Movement along with public domain and other films, such as The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. The company also offers travel and cooking programming and will soon add children’s entertainment.

Called MyLibraryDV, the download service went live in February and already has almost 600 libraries signed up, Downing says, including all the libraries in the entire state of Wyoming. Some libraries are seeing “thousands of downloads and thousands of users,” he says.

The basic MyLibraryDV video download service includes about 50 titles and costs the library anywhere from a few hundred to $37,000 a year, Downing says, depending on the population served. (See an example from the Orange County Library System.) The company’s premium service, which will be announced at ALA, will cost about twice that and will include close to 1,000 titles. The collection will include “the greatest movies ever made,” he says. Recorded Books hopes to add new releases at a later date, as well as original programming being produced specifically for the company.

Competitor OverDrive offers a customizable slate of more than 1,000 video downloads from more than 20 suppliers, including A&E, Image Entertainment and Mark Cuban’s Magnolia Films, and is negotiating with the major studios for rights to feature films as well. And both OverDrive and Recorded Books allow libraries to add their own programming to the system.

Dozens of libraries from coast to coast have already begun offering videos through OverDrive, according to CEO Steve Potash, including the New York Public Library and the Los Angeles Public Library and even overseas locations such as the Singapore National Library.

Libraries that are already on the OverDrive system for audiobooks, e-books or music can select programs to offer via download for as little as $2.99 to $49.99 for the most recent feature films.

All patrons need to do is go to their library Web site, download the player and begin downloading the program. Download times can be as little as a minute or two up to real time.

“The vast majority of public library patrons are still borrowing physical media,” Potash says. “But many librarians who try video downloads are delightfully surprised within the first two to three months. They’re seeing thousands of checkouts without any additional staff or shelf space.”

And downloads are a low-maintenance format. “DVD is fairly fragile, not very durable for lending,” Potash explains. “It’s susceptible to scratches and cracks. And for downloadable materials, the library never closes. It’s self-service, and the programs are never damaged or lost or returned late. It’s a tremendous value for the library and a proven convenience for the patrons.”

Though most libraries have a policy that you must be an area resident to get a library card, Potash says they’re looking to become more useful to more members of their community and “having downloading is a way of reaching new patrons.”

And the digital downloads are copy-protected to prevent a patron from viewing a title past the allotted date. Just as Blockbuster and Netflix have eliminated late fees, with downloads, “no more fines” could soon become a library mantra.