Jenks Hosts Displaced DVDs from Prep School

By Vicki Franks ’20
Arts & Life Editor

Thanks to a collaboration with Phillips Academy, a private school in Andover, Massachusetts, around 2,800 DVDs were added to the collection in Jenks Library. Before this addition, Gordon had just over 300 titles available to students.

Jenks Library Director, Dr. Myron Schirer-Suter explained, “Last semester the director of the library at Phillips Academy sent out a message saying they were getting ready to remodel their library, and most of their material is going to be boxed up and not available, but they wanted to make their DVDs available, and wanted to know if any of the NOBLE libraries would be interested in hosting [them].”

So, instead of keeping their materials in boxes during the remodeling of their library, the preparatory school loaned their collection to Gordon for the time being.

Both Gordon and Phillips Academy are part of NOBLE, the North of Boston Library Exchange. This consortium enables 28 libraries in the area to easily share materials with each other. Both public libraries and academic libraries provide materials available for exchange.

“Anyone in NOBLE can order [the DVDs]. The students at Phillips Academy can order them through NOBLE and we’ll send them to them.” Schirer-Suter said.

He continued, “Patrons can request materials from other libraries, and then the Massachusetts Library System has a delivery system, which goes to libraries five days a week.”

The added DVDs are currently available for check out in Jenks. Shelves were installed directly across from the other DVDs to house the new additions, transforming that hallway between the reference room and the stacks into a pronounced DVD section.

The library staff is currently working on signage to clearly indicate where the new collection begins and ends.

While they are kept separate from the original Jenks DVDs, students are able to check them out and use them for a week just as they would with a Gordon-owned DVD.

Titles include films like “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” and “Star Trek,” as well as a sizable collection of foreign language films and documentaries.

There has been no decision made as to whether or not Gordon will keep the DVDs once Phillips Academy’s library renovations are complete, Schirer-Stuter said.