What's old is new again?
Teens and young adults are leading a DVD and CD revolution with libraries and record stores seeing more sales and rentals. That follows another resurgence in even older media, vinyl record albums, with "Record Store Day" becoming a national phenomenon with people even standing in lines for special releases.
Pat Wheeler at Cheapo Records in Minneapolis says the CD surge in popularity is noticeable, and real. And those little silver discs come at a price point that is far below the new ultra-collectible 12-inch vinyl discs.
"Cost is one, though that's important, especially for younger people and kids," Wheeler says. "They can get a lot more CDs for 20 bucks than they can records."
The St. Paul Public library, like many libraries now, boasts thousands of readily available CDs and DVDs.
Alicia Banaszewski is a library associate teen specialist and says analog media - actually holding that album or movie in your hands - offers more of a connection and experience for people.
"Holding it in your hands, having the special features, having the album art as something that you can hold and really look at, not behind glass, I think is really powerful for people when they're figuring out who they are," Banaszewski explains.
The rise in popularity, especially for DVDs, comes many opt to own physical media instead of forking over money for rising streaming subscription costs.
"Part of having the physical collections, you pay one time," Banaszewski adds. "Also, I think is really great, especially for young peoplem, any sort of ownership or identity building that they can do I think is really powerful. And the library is happy to be that space for people no matter what age you are."
Banaszewski says the St. Paul Public Library hosts specialized $1 sales when an item is withdrawn from the collection.
