Blockbuster strikes again: popular or not, whatever users want.(editorial)(video store catering to what's trendy)

THE BLOCKBUSTER ARGUMENT IS BACK. ACTUALLY, it never went away. We've heard it all before: librarians pander to popular tastes. They buy books and DVDs that compete with Blockbuster, Barnes & Noble, and Borders. They throw out the classics, weeding titles that haven't circulated in two years, five years, or whatever number the library has set as the cutoff. "Do we want our libraries to be Blockbusters or Borders?" ask the alarmists.

It's a marketing nightmare for administrators. And it's often set off by staff with heartfelt concerns about the library's direction. It pops up when centralized selection is instituted or when circulation statistics fuel decisions about …