This fall we are ending the Lucky Day Book and Lucky Day DVD programs. Summer Reading this year was our last attempt to see if patron usage/interest would recover for both formats. Unfortunately they did not. Managers are guiding the phasing out per each location’s individual needs.
The LD Book program was started almost 9 years ago in response to community survey data from Orange Boy, and was instantly popular with our patrons. It came at a time when digital formats were really taking off locally, but many of our patrons still greatly preferred print. The LD DVD program debuted nearly 5 years ago, first at the Hamilton location where it was a smashing success. It later expanded to Oxford, and was due to begin at Fairfield when the pandemic closed our doors, sounding the beginning of the end for Lucky Day.
Both Lucky Day programs were started in response to patrons sharing their feedback and needs. It’s not out of the question that one or both programs could return in the future, but the return of demand would need to be established first.
In related news, we are repurposing the DVD leasing plan we used for Lucky Day DVDs to focus on decreasing wait times for DVD hold lists. Prior to this fall, we purchased new copies on a 7:1 ratio. That’s 1 copy per 7 holds. (Ratios are determined by budget and shelf space limitations.) With the leased copies, we are now reducing the hold ratio for DVDs from 7:1 to 4:1. With 1 copy per 4 holds, the wait time is cut nearly in half.
Because these extra copies are leased, they will not affect shelf space in the long term. When the additional copies are no longer needed, they are returned to the leasing vendor. Lucy in Tech Services manages the returns.
There are two limitations to this change:
- Not all titles are available for us to lease. (Disney titles are one example.) In those cases we would continue our previous practice of purchasing (to own) one copy for every seven holds in order to stay within budget and manage shelf space limitations.
- As it currently stands, we cannot lease multi-disc sets. So TV shows, combo editions, and bonus sets will still be on the one copy for every seven holds ratio. You may also see leased copies for one format (DVD), but not the other (BLU) for this reason, if they’re released with different numbers of discs.
However, most high-demand feature films should benefit from reduced wait lists.
–November 2022, Collection Development Department Update