Numerous studies prove that listening to music not only lifts your spirits, but can also lower your blood pressure and basically make you happier. And who doesn’t want to be a happier person? And yet, one of the most neglected areas of our library is CD-recorded music. I grew up with home music playing constantly on my dad’s gigantic stereo console. They made things HUGE at the time. This stereo was gigantic…at least four feet high, three feet deep, and six feet long! The cabinet was mahogany and took up a good portion of one of the walls in our living room. You can slide an open door on top to reveal the turntable where you placed the vinyl records. The front of the console contained the speakers and storage area for approximately 75 albums. While my dad favored jazzy music like Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass, my mom’s interest drifted into crooners like Paul Anka, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como and his favourite, Vic Damone.
I had four older brothers who bought all the Beatles records, so I inherited my love for the “fab four” from them. Because of the importance of music in my family, it was only natural that I save on my pocket money and also buy my own albums. The first vinyl I bought was the Mary Poppins soundtrack, with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. But my interests ‘matured’ from there to pop group The Monkees… then I took a detour and bought Tiny Tim’s debut album with Tiptoe Through the Tulips. I spent a lot of my youth making mixes of my favorite songs…and if you’re from that era, you know there’s nothing like a mix to make you happy.
It’s kind of funny to me that vinyl is making a comeback now. While the Tillamook County Library does not offer vinyl by the checkout, the first library I worked at in Iowa (34 years ago) had an album collection. You might find it interesting to know that every time an album is returned by a customer, we have actually bathed the disc in a tub specially designed for the album. We would soak the vinyl in the bathtub filled with some sort of cleaning solution, then dry it with a dish towel, never wiping it down as it could cause scratches.
When the tapes arrived many libraries started carrying them, but I can’t believe how many times the tapes came back with the innards ripped out like a plate of spaghetti, either by a curious baby or a faulty cassette player . Most libraries didn’t add the larger 8-track tapes when they started to become a popular option, but when compact discs (CDs) came along they became the mainstay of library collections.
But as you know, technology keeps advancing and it won’t be long before CDs become obsolete as well. A lot of new cars don’t even have a CD player, and I don’t know too many people who own a boombox anymore. The music industry is pushing for people to buy and stream music instead of buying it in CD format. Luckily for you, the Tillamook County Library understands the trend and has subscribed to Hoopla which allows you to view, download and/or stream music. If you’re unaware of this trend, ask one of our librarians to help you set up your Hoopla account. And who knows, if you start making music a part of your daily routine, you might become a happier person and start making your own mixed bands.
