Santa Ana Library...the fee's knees

The miserable Santa Ana Library charges $2 for each DVD or VHS checkout, and starting July 1st our lovely city kicked in a 50-cent fee for CD checkouts. Although I'm a Santa Ana resident, these fees are partly why I patronize the City of Orange Public Library way more frequently. No charge for DVDs or CDs there.

The Santa Ana budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year is revealing. According to the budget, last fiscal year's library rental charges only amounted to a skimpy $5,870 for the city coffers. That divides out to about 56 movie checkouts each week. Total. For a city with a population hovering about the 350,000 mark.

Newsflash to the Library Board and the Library Executive Director...uh, I mean the Parks and Recreation Executive Director, because the Library Department was just swallowed up by Parks and Rec...you will take in more library revenue if you eliminate the DVD/VHS/CD fees, which would increase circulation, and inevitably lead to late returns and late fees! How do you think video stores make the big bucks? (Pssst...l a t e f e e s.) I'm constantly coughing up a dollar here and a dollar there at the Orange Library because of my forgetfulness, so you can say I'm personally funding a decent film and music selection in my friendly neighboring city to the northeast.

Santa Ana Library Charges for Movies!

The Santa Ana Public Library "system" (does a main library and a single "library learning center" qualify as a "system"?) is screwed up for many reasons, but for now I'll focus on the film collection. Their selection of DVD and VHS movies is abysmal, and the tapes are haphazardly organized on rotating wire racks. (Sure, I still watch VHS if I can't get my hands on the DVD version.)

There are a few movies at the Santa Ana Main Library I wouldn't mind checking out, if it weren't for the jacked up fees they charge. Get this...$2.00 each! What a rip! That's effective July 1, 2008 at the start of the new budget year, up from $1.50 each checkout. That 50-cent increase is a 33% increase...crazy! I can walk over to my closest video store, Videosky, and pay $1.50 for a movie rental. Come on, Santa Ana...free library idealism aside, you need to at least compete with the local video rental shops! And consider that Santa Ana isn't exactly swarming with folks in the position to cough up $2 for a library movie. About 16% of all Santa Ana households are living below the poverty level. Compare that to 7% overall in Orange County. Nice, huh? We earn less, but the City of Santa Ana sticks us with higher fees.

That's another reason why I rarely patronize the Santa Ana Library. I may be a Santa Ana resident, but I take my library business to the City of Orange. They have an extensive movie selection at the Orange Main Library on Chapman, they issued me a library card at no charge, and their film checkouts are free! Thank you, Orange.