Appalachian State University may soon install a new system for renting video games and movies, according to an article in the Jan. 31 issue of The Appalachian.

For the past four years, CrocBox Co. has been negotiating with the university to put their service on campus. CrocBox is a service similar to Red Box, where a small, automated kiosk resembling a vending machine distributes movies and video games.

Ninety-five percent of students support CrocBox, according to the article.

Well I am part of the five percent that doesn’t.

We already have a service to rent movies on campus: Belk Library and Information Commons.

Belk Library already carries 19,084 films, videos and DVDs, according to the Belk Library fact sheet.

I realize our library doesn’t have video games, but would it be that hard to start stocking those?

I don’t think that it would, as the university also stocks other media, such as music. There are over 28,000 recordings available, according to the library fact sheet.
 Appalachian has shown that it can stock multiple forms of media. I think we should start offering video games for rent too.

The root of this problem is not a huge demand for video game rentals, but privatization. We need to preserve and ensure access to public services such as Belk Library for the majority of people in an equitable manner.

Instead, corporate interests work their way into our schools by making a profit off of public services.

Rather than privatize the free rental system, I think that our administration should work to expand ours and make it more efficient.

Mann, a freshman computer science major from Raleigh, is an opinion writer.