Friends of
the Phonograph
Public
Libraries as Record Lenders
Courtesy Charles Schulz
July 25, 1954
Public
Libraries as Record Lenders
By Doug Boilesen, 2020
In 2020 public libraries are
still known for their printed books and periodicals that can
be checked out. Most libraries also have computers to use and
other media that can be borrowed such as audiobooks, e-books,
CDs, and DVDs.
Having grown up in the 1950's
and 1960's I remember records as the only audio medium that
could be checked-out. My home library was Bennett Martin Public
Library in Lincoln, Nebraska and it would continue to have records
in its collection into the 1990s. Audio cassettes and video
cassettes appeared and disappeared from most libraries, along
with records, as libraries found that they needed to be part
of the digital world to stay relevant to the devices consumers
used and had in their homes.
Listening to children's album
at Bennett Martin Public Library 1981
Courtesy Ted Kirk / JournalStar
File Photo
However, a renewed interest
in vinyl records in the 2010's reversed that fate of records
in a few libraries.
As a Friend of the Phonograph
I'm highlight one of those libraries, the Nutley Public Library
in Nutley, New Jersey, because they returned vinyl record albums
to their borrowing shelves and because they used a creative
promotion for that reintroduction.
Here's what the Nutley Public
Library published on their webpage
in 2017 regarding the 25 year lapse and reintroduction of records.
Courtesy
of The Nutley Public Library
Additionally, Nutley Library
offered Tuesday evening events to spotlight their new vinyl
record collection.
The Nutley Public
Library, Nutley, New Jersey
De-Stress, be mindful and enjoy
the tactile experience of playing vinyl music with some coffee,
tea and pastries. It's a good example set by Friends of the
Nutley Public Library for Friends of Anything.
There are other examples of
public libraries, like Nutley, now offering LPs as one of their
lending services but the libraries known for their access to
superb record collections are some of the premier libraries
of the world.
The
Vinyl Factory (VF) has identified the following as "the
incredible record libraries where you can listen to vast archives
for free."
The British Library Sound Archive,
London, United Kingdom
The Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives
of Recorded Sound of The New York Public Library, New
York City, USA
Music Library + Understage, Seoul,
South Korea
Music Section, Stuttgart City Library,
Stuttgart, Germany
The Music Room, Potato Head Hong Kong,
Hong Kong, China
"It has not been for nothing
that the word has remained man's principal toy and tool: without
the meanings and values it sustains, all man's other tools would
be worthless." —Lewis Mumford
