For $8 per title, people can dedicate a film they feel deserves to be preserved and available for the public to see for years to come.
Pleasant Street Video will close its doors on July 14, with the last rental day slated as July 3. The business is working on directing fans to the Forbes Library to make a donation so as much of its collection can be purchased by the public institution and enjoyed by the public for years to come. NORTHAMPTON - With July 14 slated as the last official day of business, Pleasant Street Video in Northampton is asking the public to come forward with donations to send its extensive collection to the Forbes Library.
For $8 per title, people can dedicate a film they feel deserves to be preserved and available for the public to see for years to come.
"While we may not have much, we do have a sense of dignity and a sense of community and a distinct sense of pride," wrote store clerk Bill Dwight in a note on his Facebook page. "We collected a remarkable archive of the best films ever to transmit light over the course of the last quarter century. Our inventory is the product of love, obsession and scholarship. Cinephiles named John Morrison, Richard Pini and Dana Gentes curated a peerless archive."
Dwight said the store didn't want to go out like some businesses do by selling everything inside or by blaming the ever-changing world for its hardships. Instead, they approached the Forbes Library in Northampton to see if they were interested in the collection.
"They were excited to try and thrilled with the prospect of offering a comprehensive catalog of film to not only the people of Northampton and (its) neighborhoods, but for the region (and) the entire state, via inter-library loan, for people and places that don't have access or the bandwidth to see these great things," Dwight wrote.
If you go to Pleasant Street Video's website by clicking here, you can see the remainder of the collection and choose a specific title to donate to the library. Then by visiting the library's website by clicking here, you make the tax-deductible donation directly to the public institution.
"The enthusiasm and comments from the community reaffirm my absurd choice of remaining a video clerk for two and a half decades," Dwight wrote. "I love where I work and I love what I do. And I'm not looking forward to expressing that sentiment in the past tense."
Donations can also be made in person or via traditional mail by writing a check payable to Forbes Library and mailing to Forbes Library, Attn: PSV Fund, 20 West St., Northampton MA 01060.
To see the overwhelming public response to the donation program and the store's closing, visit Pleasant Street Video's Facebook page by clicking here.