I felt inspired after reading A Library’s Listening Lab by Chad Mairn and Joe Terrana. Music is another form of storytelling in the way it captures emotions. The context is unique to the artist creating the music and the interpretation can be unique to each individual listener. And as great as technology advancements are in making listening to music an accessible action throughout our daily lives, the way people ingested music before the digital age were of a different experience. Being able to share this method to younger listeners today or even bringing back nostalgia for others (in a repurposed library space, no less) is an incredible way to bridge connection and understanding.
One of the donations to the St. Petersburg College Library music collection mentioned were bootlegged VHS tapes of concerts and that tickled me a bit, imagining someone holding a camcorder, enjoying the concert, while having the intent of sharing or keeping their experience for the future and others. With vinyls being a large part of their collection, I think this brings about a new level of appreciation for the physical materials and content. Unlike digital music, listening to vinyl requires careful handling of the vinyl itself– from how it’s stored, to being carefully placed on the player, and back to being carefully placed in its cover. Their idea of hosting a BYOV (bring your own viynls) session to share music can broaden people’s taste and knowledge in music while sparking conversations and creating new relationships within the community.
Starting a radio program to discuss and highlight unique discoveries in the collection that range in genre and not normally heard in mainstream music was also such a thoughtful way to use materials in the collection. This engagement with the collection from staff prevents items from being forgotten. This radio program and help nourish relationships between library and patrons.
St. Petersburg College Library’s music collection and their programming ideas all support the DOK library’s mantra of “Keep stories, make stories, share stories.” It was a nice read and sounded like a fun side quest for students to enjoy at the library, regardless of what their area of study was.