Saving the Catalog

News

Pleasant Street Video
July 29th, 2011

Credit: Forbes Library 1899

In Northampton, MA, USA there has been a downtown video store, Pleasant Street Video, operating for 25 years. It has received tremendous support through the years, but with the advent of film online and the economic downturn, they finally had to close the doors. The challenge was what to do with the thousands of films?

They reached out to the community with the idea of donating the many titles to the local town library. The rest is history. Check out the information from the company website and consider donating or using this model elsewhere.

Because of an unprecedented (and unplanned!) grassroots movement by our customers and fans, the store has raised close to $60,000 in the past few weeks via tax-free donations — and as a result, Pleasant Street Video’s 8,000 films will move permanently to Northampton’s Forbes Library. This triples the library’s DVD collection, and keeps Pleasant Street’s films—including many rare and out-of-print titles—available to the local community, free.

The more we raise, the more movies we can keep local and accessible. If we reach the goal of $60,000, the whole library goes.

We still need your help. This is an ongoing project that not only saves the films, but pays for their long-term maintenance at the library. Here are your options:

1. For each $8 donated, one DVD will be added to the Forbes’ collection.
2. Tax-deductible donations of any size are welcome.
3. You can write a check payable to Forbes Library, and mail to Forbes Library, Attn: PSV Fund, 20 West St., Northampton MA 01060.
4. You can donate in person at Forbes Library.
5. You can click here to make an anonymous online donation (via PayPal or credit card)
6. You can use the interface below to dedicate specific films or sections and get your name on the Big Board (though many sections are spoken for there are still plenty that aren’t).

• This list below, constantly updated by us and added to, shows you what titles and/or sections in our catalog are available for donation to the Forbes Library.

• Every donation of $8 (or more) will ensure a different DVD (or whole sections!) will go to the Forbes.

• ALL the money goes directly to the Forbes Library.

Here are some hint and tips for using this interface:

1. you can simply search for a title by using your web browser’s search function.

2. the blue “Click to Donate!” is a link to use your PayPal or credit card to make a donation.

3. you can click the button that says “only list available titles” to see what has not been spoken for.

4. you can sort the existing titles by clicking on the little arrows at the top of each field.

If would prefer to skip dedicating a film or section and just make a plain old anonymous donation to the cause, try using the “general donation” selections at the top of the list, or, click here.

• we (as in, PSV and the Forbes) are planning on finding a way to display and commemorate all the dedications for the films. Stay tuned on that.

Check out the entire list of films at Pleasant Street Video.