Slow internet means DVDs still reign in rural N.S.

Each Tuesday, chief librarian Laura Emery or one of her staff dives into the DVD section of the localWalmart, searching for the latest romcom or Will Smith's new blockbuster.

The effort seems quaint in the age of Netflix and other on-demand movie and TV services. But not at Nova Scotia's Eastern Counties Regional Library, where the DVD collection is growing, as arethe appetites oflibrary patrons.

So it's important to scour for deals.

"The only way you can be awesome is to be super smart and thrifty about stuff," says Emery.

It's not just big titles that find favour. Eastern Counties, which covers some of the most rural parts of the province, hasa "small but decent" Asian film selection, a popular British TV collection, and has put money into French moviesand Qubcois shows.

DVDs hold out

All but written off with the financial ruin of rental giants like Blockbuster, the DVDis finding new life on the shelves of libraries.

At some,DVDsnow represent nearly 20 per cent of all circulation.Pictou-AntigonishRegional Library, for instance, had 20,524 DVD loans last year, nearly 50 per cent more than four years prior.

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The reasons, according to librarians,are simple.Theinternetisn't good enoughto stream movies in many parts of rural Nova Scotia.Whenit is decent, many people are too poor to afford it.

"It's either their electricity bill or the internet," says Erin Comeau, library director at Western Counties Regional Library in southwestern Nova Scotia.

The victims of streaming

The rise of online streaming has taken its share of victims, however. Blockbuster shut down hundreds of stores across Canada in 2011, and Rogers ditched its rental divisionafter a 43 per cent decline in revenues in a year.

Independents have suffered, too. In Halifax, beloved Video Difference on Quinpool Road announced this summer it would close after 34 years. Manager Paul Boisjoli said streaming services had forced store sales down below a level that could sustain the collection of tens of thousands of titles.

Still, Halifax Public Libraries and Dalhousie University later announced plans to buy 5,500 titles from the shop at a cost of $125,000 and make them available to thepublic.

Earlier this month, the Nova Scotia government axed a $199 licence fee for movie and video game stores, saying it made little sense now that so many consumers are watching online.

Matlockand Walker, Texas Ranger

The rural library, then, is becoming one of the last refugesfor the movie lover who still wants to press a real play button.DVDs are so popular, they are the only item for which some libraries will charge a fine if returned late.

Librarians say someolder people don't want to fuss with online streaming and prefer something relatively old-fashioned.There's alsoa craving for old favourites.

Cumberland Public Libraries, for instance, has invested intitles that aren't on Netflix,like Matlock, Little House onthe Prairie, Mork& Mindyand Walker, Texas Ranger.

"People really love to borrow those older series," says chief librarian Denise Corey.

DVD black market

There's even a black market. South Shore librarian Troy Myerssays hestill "marvels" that people continue to steal DVDs from the library. Justthis month he was called to collect some seized by Bridgewater police from a local pawn shop.

"That shows you how hot they are," says Myers, who is CEO of South Shore Public Libraries.

He also sees agrowing DVD demographic among"back-to-the-land" families settling in the area. Many don't want the internet, but do want to watch films and TV.

The DVD isn't dead yet, he says, and thereremains a place for physical media.

"When we're kind of in the city, we're staring at our smartphones and people go, 'Oh, this is all anyone really needs.' And we kind of forget there's people who aren't as fortunate as we all are to have one of those things in our pocket."

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