Michael Delson a Staples High student is currently interning at the Westport Library as part of the pilot year of their Senior Internship Program. He is one of many students gaining real world work experience. As his major project he is helping with the continuation of an ongoing DVD collection enhancement project made possible by generous grants from the Adolph and Ruth Schnutmacher Foundation, Inc. Michael is tracking VHS usage by genre through our catalog records which detail the number of times an item was checked out to the public. Using a formula based on this plus how recently the video was circulated he is helping AV staff determine the priority for ordering a DVD copy of the movie. But his job doesn’t stop there. At this point, Michael picks up and writes his first blog entry for us.
The next part of the project involves going into the library’s vendor (Baker & Taylor) ordering website to see if the DVD is available to purchase. If so, I create a shopping cart for Beth, the selector to review. I’ve already completed looking at the war videos and now I’m in the middle of a really popular genre, action/adventure. I’m a little less excited about the next two genres to review, Romance and Musicals! I am finding some surprises about some movies the library doesn’t own on DVD yet, such as the Terminator movies. But my part in the project will help change that. I was surprised to learn that some of the most popular movies have gone out over 300+ times. A movie I never heard of Payback, checked out 303 times. One movie I like went out 540 times.
I’ve loved my time so far at the library and think that it is one of the most fascinating experiences in my first 18 years!