Penny-pinching digital video viewers aren’t the only ones who will appreciate the Ames Public Library’s free and newly unveiled DVD collection.The public library’s DVD collection made its debut with 500 titles Feb. 1, said T.J. Larson, media services coordinator. A total of $15,000 was provided to establish the collection, with $5,000 given by the Friends of the Ames Public Library and $10,000 granted from the board of trustees, Larson said.”We haven’t totally spent it all,” Larson said. “The reason we are waiting is we want to see what is popular and what we might need to do to enhance the collection.”Patrons of the library have enjoyed the addition of DVDs. “They love it,” she said. “The first day that we debuted the DVD collection, somebody walked in at 9:05 a.m. and asked ‘Where’s the new DVD collection?'”The success of the collection means popular titles won’t last long on the shelf. “At any one time, 400 out of the 500 DVDs are checked out,” Larson said. To avoid running out of a particular title, librarians encourage planning ahead. Patrons can place holds on DVDs, and a list of titles is located next to the DVD shelves, on the west side of the video room. Even with companies charging for DVD rentals in town, the library’s free collection won’t have an effect on those businesses, said Dawn Hayslett, assistant director.”What we’ve kind of found with the video collection is it’s a mutual benefit. People rent things and then ask for them here, or they see them here and then rent them. I don’t believe there’s really any competition involved,” she said.Providing DVDs for patrons makes sense because of the low cost of movies on this format.”One of the virtues of DVDs for libraries is that DVDs cost less when initially released than videos,” Larson said. New video releases cost around $100 to $115 while new DVD releases typically cost between $20 and $30.The library’s mission for selecting the DVDs in the collection involved providing popular titles as well as time-honored classic films.”We first tried to obtain landmark films, unfortunately a lot of those time-honored materials are not available on DVD yet,” Larson said. “Out of the 100 best films of all time, we have probably 60. We have everything that you can get.”She said librarians try to get DVDs customers would like to view. “On the popular side, we seek to provide family materials, and we let our customers’ suggestions be our guide,” Larson said. “We listen to our customers, and we try to buy those things that they would be interested in seeing.”The library’s extensive media collection also contains 3,500 movies on videotape, 3,000 informational videos and 7,800 CDs.A library card is needed to check out a DVD, Larson said.”I think it’s very easy to get a library card. It only takes 90 seconds. A person needs to have a picture ID and something showing their current Ames address,” she said. “We accept a check book, postmarked mail, an invoice or almost anything that’s official.”DVDs are checked out for one week and are not renewable. Overdue fines are $1 per day.