By Victoria Hurley-Schubert, Staff Writer
Red Box DVD rentals are no longer available at the Princeton Public Library and the familiar red kiosk has been removed from the library driveway off Wiggins Street.
”Red Box decided not to continue its program with library,” said Tim Quinn, communications director for the Princeton Public Library. “They told us they were ending the pilot program and removing the box. It’s already missed and will be continued to be missed.”
The vending machine, which charged $1 per movie, was removed June 7.
The library received notice of the removal mid-May. The kiosk was installed in June 2009 as part of a pilot program the company was running.
The Red Box gave library patrons access to more movies than were in the library’s budget, said Mr. Quinn.
”We didn’t view the Red Box as competition, we viewed it as an enhancement and a convenience factor for our customers who come to us for movies,” said Mr. Quinn, explaining that when the library was closed, patrons could use the Red Box. “I personally come to the library, and my workday starts very early, and I saw people dropping films off.”
The staff liked the fact that their customers could rent movies from the kiosk as a supplement to the thousands of titles on the shelf at the library. The library has 10,000 DVDs in stock that also rent for a dollar a day or three nights for a dollar for older movies.
Red Box officials did not give a reason for the removal or how many other libraries were impacted. Calls to Red Box for comment were not returned.
