Literacy

Quick question: When did the public library become a Blockbuster Video franchise? Today I ventured out of my cave to visit our local library with my wife. After navigating my way through aisle after aisle of DVD movies and displays, I finally found my way to the bookcases that apparently have been banished to the back corner of the library. All twelve of them. If the library were a supermarket, the books would be the milk. Something trivial to be utilized only as a lure to draw unsuspecting consumers through the minefield of profitable merchandise.

Having selected my literary prize, I patiently waited near the check-out for my wife to finish her perusing. While doing so, I surreptitiously spied on unsuspecting patrons, making note of whether they were departing with books or, as the library has christened it, "media". To my mild astonishment, not a single person departed with a book. Well, not that I could see at least. I suppose they could have smuggled the books somehow beneath their clothing, but that would bely an even deeper, more disturbing revelation than I am prepared to handle. Every single person departing the library during my wait was checking out a movie. What's up with that? Granted, it's been a little while since I've been to my public library, but when did this change take place? When did the library stop being about books? Should I even care? Or am I just getting old?