The Musser Public Library in Muscatine is among the first U.S. libraries to venture into offering the old-but-new-again technology of long-playing record albums, also known as LPs or vinyl, as part of its collections.
The library’s eclectic assortment of about 100 albums by artists ranging from George Strait to Judas Priest to Beyonce, to be introduced in September, will be housed near the first-floor service desk, according to a Wednesday library release. The music falls into three basic categories: Jazz/Blues, Country/Folk and Rock/Pop.
Patrons need not worry if they don’t have a record player; MPL will also offer two portable record players for checkout. The devices will be kept at the service desk.
Reference Librarian Emma Stoffer is cataloging the records as they arrive. She said the library will grow the collection as needed. Patrons are welcome to suggest new titles for the library to obtain, but newer releases are more likely to be available, Library Director Bobby Fiedler said.
While Stoffer said that LP collections are enjoying “a resurgence in the library world” in large metropolitan areas (notably Brooklyn, N.Y. and Detroit), it appears MPL is the first library in Iowa to offer them.
Fiedler decided to explore the idea of reintroducing vinyl at MPL when he read about vinyl outselling compact discs in 2022 — the first year since CDs were introduced to the U.S. in 1983.
“We saw that news and started looking to see what other libraries were doing,” Fiedler said in the library release. “Because we found out that not a lot of other libraries are offering vinyl – and learned that our distributor could send us records – we decided to offer them to our patrons.
“The library is glad to provide ways to slow down and enjoy the simpler things in life. I find I enjoy the music I am listening to more when I have to handle a record and turn it over halfway through,” he said, citing the similar tactile pleasures of other older technology such as Polaroid cameras, which have also enjoyed a comeback.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) annual revenue report, vinyl records outsold CDs in the U.S. last year for the first time since 1987, selling 41 million units against 33 million for CD.
Vinyl record sales have consistently increased over the last 16 years, according to the RIAA report — now accounting for 71 percent of all physical music format revenue.
The growth margins here aren’t trivial, either — while physical formats as a whole increased by 4 percent, earning $1.7 billion between 2021 and 2022, vinyl sales alone accounted for $1.2 billion, experiencing a 17 percent increase in sales compared to the previous year. Comparatively, CD sales dropped by 18 percent in 2022.
Vinyl is still far away from its glory days in the 1970s, when more than 300 million LPs and EPs would be sold in a single year.
The Musser library checkout period for records will be two weeks even though the CD checkout period is only one week. The records can also be renewed another two weeks as long as another patron has not put a hold on the material.
“The logic is that records aren’t portable like CDs. You can’t play them in your car; you have to take them home to listen,” Stoffer said. “We want to give patrons enough time to listen to them.”
Only Musser Public Library patrons can put holds on LPs from the collection. Records are not available for delivery; the patron must come into the library to get them. Those who check out LPs and record players will receive instructions to keep the items in working order.
For more information, visit the library website HERE.
