Free membership and cheap late fees

Imagine a free video rental service, replete with obscure foreign films, Oscar winners, and mainstream popular films. Now imagine that it is less than a five minute walk from anywhere on campus. Actually, it is on campus, and it's open to the perusal of anyone with a Tufts ID.

Such a place is not just a fantasy. It exists, and it's called the Bernstein Media Center. Located on the third floor of Tisch Library, the Media Center has over 10,000 items in its collection, including approximately 1500 DVDs. Many of these films can be checked out for the weekend, providing the student body with a veritable video rental facility just up the stairs from the library stacks.

The Media Center opened in 1987, and at that time, merely occupied what is now a staff lounge. After the Tisch renovation in 1996, the current Media Center and the large screening room were constructed, replacing space which previously held archives. Since that time the center has continued to grow and respond to the demands of both faculty and students.

Currently, the Media Center and its accompanying classrooms make up almost the entire third floor. The heavy involvement of the faculty has helped the library garner a diverse selection. Media Center manager Richard Fleischer remarked, "It really is a remarkable collection, one of the best in the Boston area."

Since DVD has only recently begun to become the norm, the Media Center has a majority of VHS films. There are over 6,000 VHS titles available. Some of these titles are actually 30 to 40 volumes of a series, making the number of VHS films even greater. However, one should not see these numbers as a statement of a dominant popularity of VHS cassettes; more DVD titles were checked out last semester than VHS titles.

While the crop of DVDs is minor compared to the VHS, the library has plenty to offer in the popular format. In addition, the library staff understands that film producers are moving towards DVD. "It's only a matter of time before DVD replaces VHS," Fleischer admitted.

Fleischer cautions that the Media Center is not a Blockbuster, but this does not mean there is not a vast collection at the students' disposal. For example, one glance at the newly acquired DVDs shows many recent critically acclaimed and popular films, including "25th Hour," "Whale Rider," and "Secretary." When professors sometimes require a single episode from a television series, the library will buy the whole series, which is why a perusal through the DVD collection will turn up complete seasons of "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City."

Another underused and often unknown feature of the center is the folders of suggestions and genres at the front desk. Looking through these, one discovers that the library has a vast collection of foreign films, including French, Spanish, Italian, German and even Russian. Among these are recent favorites like the Mexican film "Y T? Mama Tambien," and the video game-like "Run Lola Run" from Germany. One folder contains "Great Movies -- the first 100", a selection by film critic Roger Ebert. Of these 100, the library is only missing 17.

Though it is faculty driven, the Media Center does cater to students. People can vote on what films the library should purchase, and in addition, the Tisch Library website has a link to newly acquired films. Students can also view the new arrivals from home or search for a specific movie on the Tisch website.

Fleischer says that students should remember that suggestions, questions, and comments are welcome, because "the entire University is in charge of the collection." So don't be shy, if there's a film you want, come down to the Media Center and ask for it. Chances are they already have it.