The Jaffrey Public Library received a gift from Franklin Pierce University, just in time for the holidays – boxes and boxes of DVDs.

Library Director Julie Perrin said that she was contacted by Franklin Pierce University Librarian Paul Jenkins, when the university library was on the cusp of culling a large portion of its DVD collection. Perrin was offered the opportunity to go through the catalog and select any titles she might want for the Jaffrey Public Library’s collection.

It was a boon, said Perrin. The Jaffrey Public Library offers a partnership with a video streaming service, where card-holders can access the video streaming service Kanopy with the same library card number and password they use for services like Libby, which can be used to check out ebooks. She said that has become a very popular option, but the library does still offer a DVD library, and even loans DVD players.

“We don’t want to necessarily put our funds into what is a dying format, but there are patrons that still want DVDs, and we don’t want to leave them behind, either,” Perrin said.

The Franklin Pierce donation allows the library to bolster its offerings with hundreds of new titles, at no cost. Perrin selected 653 DVDs, including films, television series and history and documentary titles.

Even at a conservative value of $5 per title, which is what Perrin might expect to pay for a used DVD, that’s a value of about $3,265 for the gift, she said.

“Some of these are complete television series, which is huge for those patrons who don’t or can’t access streaming services,” Perrin said. “It’s just amazing. This is like Christmas.”

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.