Libraries deliver videorecordings and other materials on demand, with no waiting period. Libraries are also more likely to circulate video recordings at least to faculty for a limited time period. Library collections are developed to support campus instruction and research based upon collection development and selection policies. The librarians who select video for library collections need not worry about the appeal of these collections to potential off-campus borrowers. Thus, their collections can be more directly responsive to specific teaching and research needs of the university user population.
Libraries can respond to individual needs more readily than campus media centers.
The more obscure and minor works among these acquisitions would be inappropriate for a rental collection. Libraries extend access to all members of the campus community and, in the case of some public universities, to any resident of the state. Departmental libraries and archives, on the other hand, exclude most users. Multimedia resource centers operated by computing services often limit access to faculty or to students enrolled in specific courses. By centralizing collections and services in the library, we extend access to a significantly larger user population, which is a more efficient use of often scarce campus resources.