I never knew Abe made his own CD. It's amazing what you can find at the downtown library.

        There was a CD called The Captain and Tennille's Greatest Hits. Amazing. I didn't know they had any.

        I opened one drawer and spotted Paul Anka, Pat Boone and Leo Sayer. I couldn't close it fast enough.

        That warped, potty-mouthed, lunatic rapper Eminem hangs out there, too, along with other brown-paper rappers.

        And that's just the music section. The DVD and video sections have more titles than Ted Turner's movie channel.

        “We carry a lot of materials that would never be available at Blockbuster,” said Amy Banister, public relations director.

        She might be talking about rare relics such as Two-Lane Blacktop, a 1971 flick that starred James Taylor, the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson and a 1955 Chevy. They don't stock it at Blockbuster, because watching it seems longer than Route 66 by Greyhound bus.

        Or maybe she was talking about cult classics such as A Brief History of the Internet or The Glory of Macedonia.

Free, and should be

        The Films & Recordings Department of the downtown library carries a lot of instructional and travel videos that no one else would touch, said assistant manager Byron Coaston.

        There are no X-rated movies. And most “new” videos are at least a month behind the video stores.

        Stocking CDs by Eminem and other raunchy rappers is no different “than having a controversial book on the shelves,” said Mr. Coaston.

        And it's all free.

        Maybe a bit too free. Especially when the board of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County has threatened to save money by closing branches in Bond Hill, Deer Park, Elmwood Place, Mount Healthy and Greenhills.

        The Films & Recordings section downtown has 17 employees and costs $1.6 million — more than two-thirds of the $2.2 million that would be saved by sawing off branches.

        Library officials can't balance their books because they didn't read the writing on the wall. Everyone else knew state cuts were “Coming Soon” — in large print. The $3 billion state budget meltdown is harder to miss than crop circles in

        Ohio Stadium. But the board of trustees of the public library kept spending like The Great Gatsby. And now they might need to borrow $3 million from the county to keep branches open and finish a new library in St. Bernard.

Check this out

        Maybe the board should check out some instructional videos on responsible fiscal management.

        Board members lean more on state money than other libraries, pour public money into questionable expansion projects and ignore the reality of a shrinking economy that is squeezing state spending. Then when its state checkbook is overdrawn, the board creates the maximum noise and inconvenience by closing branches and cutting services to the public.

        I see nothing wrong with offering CDs and videos — even dangerous movies that could cause brain damage, like Being John Malkovich. The service is popular. Free movies, CDs and audio books account for 35 percent of circulation, compared with 16 percent of the materials budget, Ms. Banister said.

        But if the library does an Enron, the idea of closing branches to subsidize free movies and CDs will go over like an Iron Butterfly.

        E-mail pbronson@enquirer.com or call 768-8301.

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