On Fri, 8 Sep 2000, Mike Boedicker wrote:
> Several months back Ellen Druda described the high theft rate of DVDs in
> public libraries. Now I'm experiencing it myself. Our collection is
> currently only 40 titles & has only been on the shelves 2 weeks, but already
> 3 DVDs have been stolen. (Two more were attempted stolen today, but staff
> watched the suspect like a hawk and he left after stuffing them behind a
> bookcase).
>
> We don't use dummy cases -- the actual discs are in their cases in open
> stacks. For security, we use Kwik cases with magnetic strips, and a 3M
> gate. One of the empty Kwik cases (found buried in the stacks) had its
> locking mechanism ripped out as if from heavy-duty pliers.
>
> My questions: does anyone know about a new 3M system, mentioned on the list
> a few months back, that uses small magnetic donut stickers that fit around
> the DVD hub? If anyone has used this system, how effective is it? It seems
> that the best method is attaching security strips directly to the discs, but
> we obviously can't use the straight strips on double-sided DVDs.
>
> We've thought about putting only the cases out for display and keeping the
> discs behind the circ desk. With do that w/ our Rap CDs, because of their
> high theft rate, but we only have about 2 dozen of them. With only 40 DVDs
> the same policy is feasible, but 60 more will be added soon, and I expect
> the collection to grow even larger soon after that.
>
> Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...
>
> Mike Boedicker
> Audiovisual Director/Webmaster
> Danville Public Library
> 319 N. Vermilion
> Danville, IL 61832
> (217) 477-5223 ext. 123
> http://www.danville.lib.il.us
>
>
>