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Purpose - This paper was written to aid academic libraries that may be considering adding collections of popular culture items to their collections. The Multimedia Center at the University of Rochester's River Campus Libraries partnered with students to establish a popular DVD collection in 2001. Changes in acquisitions, cataloging, processing, shelving, and access were required. A review of the current literature helps make a compelling story for why these items add value to the libraries' collections and how they contribute to the educational mission of the university. Design/methodology/approach - Changes that were made to provide improved access to a high circulation collection are discussed. Current literature on popular culture collections in academic libraries, media literacy, and the unique creation of knowledge by the current generation of college students is used to provide a basis for supporting these incongruous collections. Findings - The generation of students who have grown up with the internet use media for the creation of knowledge. The distinction between scholarly material and popular material may be a library construct and inhibit the creation of new texts. Practical implications - Academic libraries that are attempting to establish collections of popular culture items such as DVD can examine the solutions that the Multimedia Center staff used to overcome barriers to access and circulation, including the philosophical barrier imposed by an institutional bias against popular culture items. Originality/value - This paper is unique in that it not only examines the technical details needed to successfully integrate a high-circulation, easily browsed DVD collection into an academic library setting, it also examines the reasons why these collections are essential to the educational mission of the modern university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]