By Joan D., Public Services Assistant
Tired of paying to watch commercial after commercial?
Tired of paying extra to not watch commercials?
Tired of paying and still not finding what you want to watch?
Wondering what that dusty black box is by a family member’s TV?
Fear not! If you answered yes to any of the above questions you will find help at the Hamilton East Public Library. DVDs and Blu Ray discs are available at both branches to help you find alternatives to streaming.
History of DVDs and Blu Ray
DVDs were first released in Japan in 1996 and in the U.S. and many other countries the following year. Early titles included Blade Runner, Twister, and Batman. Player sales outnumbered VCRs, introduced in the late 1970s, within a few years due to superior video and sound quality and interactive menus with special features. In 2006, the last movie was produced on VHS, and by 2007, it was estimated that 80% of U.S. households owned a DVD player.
Blu Rays were released worldwide in 2006, and early titles included The Fifth Element, Terminator, and Hitch. At their peak, DVDs and Blu Ray represented two thirds of the video market, but by 2017, movies purchased on digital streaming services outnumbered both. However, many people are now returning to or discovering DVDs and Blu Rays.
The library has both DVD and Blu Ray versions of TV shows and movies (now shelved separately) for a total of 20,500 items. Our General Collection includes 4,000 nonfiction titles and 12,00 fiction titles, with a mix of recent releases and classics and even a small number of silent movies. In the Youth area, we have about 3,000 titles. We also have about 500 titles in the Anime section. The majority of HEPL’s titles are in English, but our World Language Collection of 1,000 titles includes French, Spanish, Chinese, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Japanese, among many other languages.
So, ditch the commercials, and grab a DVD!
Some of our popular titles include:
