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Music Transcending Format: Wanda Phillips The objective of "Music Transcending Format: A Program for Enhanced Access" was twofold: 1) to enhance patron access to music by making it available in compact disc (CD) format and 2) to inform patrons of this enhanced access. Library Services and Technology Act grant funds from the Illinois State Library were used for the project. In applying for this grant, the Peoria Public Library proposed purchasing titles of vintage music on CD in order to provide access to such titles from which access has been lost due to the inability of patrons to use LPs and to provide patron awareness and education through a series of regularly changing exhibits pertaining to the collection. When the Library began circulating CDs in 1986, the Library maintained an extensive LP collection of over 20,000 titles, built over the course of many years. In 1992, the acquisition of LPs was discontinued. By 1997 the circulation of CDs had risen to over 17,000 items, while LP circulation fell to under 2,400. 70.6% of Peoria households surveyed in 1996 felt that a library music collection was very important or somewhat important while only 51.4% felt that a library LP collection was very important or somewhat important. The Art & Music staff has become increasingly aware that fewer and fewer patrons had access to a turntable to utilize the LP collection. A year long project beginning in December of 1997 evaluated the LP collection on an item-by-item basis, weeding out badly scratched and warped LPs and duplicates and removing bibliographic records for items no longer in the collection. The result of this project was an approximately 18,000-item LP collection in good condition, still available to those patrons for whom accessibility is not an issue. Access, however, remains a major issue. Increasingly, patrons request specific musical selections, composers or performers that Peoria Public Library has available on LP, but the patron has no means of playing the LP. In order to meet the needs of Peoria Public Library patrons as well as the many reciprocal borrowers of the Alliance Library System, and to fulfill interlibrary loan requests, the Library proposed to purchase titles of vintage music in CD format to provide accessibility in a newer and more widely used technology. Plans were made to purchase 250 titles within twelve of the eighteen CD groupings of music. Titles were selected using several resources. Titles that had been requested from the LP collection were considered. During the evaluation of the LP collection, a running list was maintained of titles, performers, and composers that the evaluator felt should be strongly considered in a newly created vintage music collection. Selections aids such as the All Music Guide, Music Librarian, Record Shelf Guide to Classical CDs and Audiocassettes, and the Music Library Association's A Basic Music Library were consulted. Additionally, community factors were taken into account in the selection of titles. For example, for many years the Peoria Public Library has made available recorded selections of works being performed by the Peoria Symphony Orchestra. As the LP collection became less accessible, the ability to provide this service diminished. New titles will once again make this feasible. Other examples of community needs being met, through the Library's collections include recordings of classical musicals which are being staged by the many community theater groups within the area, as well as providing international music for various schools and community groups such as Girl Scouts for educational and enrichment programs. * Wanda Phillips, Head, Art & Music Dept., Peoria Public Library. 34 The actual selection of titles was broken down by grouping as follows:
Four less than the anticipated number of items were ordered, but approximately twenty-five of the items involved multiple-copy titles. The actual cost of items ordered was slightly more than budgeted, $3,424.65, but cancellations of some titles which were no longer available kept the cost close to the amount planned, and the $97.67 above and beyond the $3,000.00 requested was absorbed by the regular non-print budget. Peoria Public Library contributed funds of $785.00 that covered the cost of CD Kwik Cases that the library uses for security purposes, as well as the cost of supplies for 12 monthly displays of the new items. Classical items were ordered through AEC One-Stop, a supplier that Peoria Public Library frequently uses. Because this company does not put items on backorder, we knew almost immediately which titles would be unavailable. Of the thirty-nine titles requested, only six were unavailable. AEC One-Stop provides only minimal information about the titles, however. Because of this, the decision was made to order non-classical titles through Collector's Choice Music, which has a more informative database. Their titles were slightly more expensive however, and backorders continued to trickle in a title or two at a time for several months. Once orders were received, they were given top priority handling in Technical Services, with cataloging and processing being done as quickly as possible. Some delays were encountered due to difficulties with OCLC records being uploaded on the CARL system to the Peoria Public Library system.Once this issue which was totally unrelated to the project was resolved, the items were rapidly delivered to the Art & Music Department, and became available for circulation. Because the displays had already been planned with community participation, it was decided that in fairness to those organizations which had agreed to participate, the displays should take place as planned, despite the fact that grant CDs were not available for the June and July displays. We used CDs that had been recently purchased through the regular budgetary process. The Corn Stock Theatre and Peoria Pops Orchestra participated in these displays, which were well received by Peoria Public Library patrons. The August display was mounted with grant materials. Thus far, displays have been done with the cooperation of the Peoria Symphony Orchestra and the Bradley Community Chorus. An International display was created without a community group. A Holiday display is being assembled for December, and future displays are planned through May. Several community groups, including the Central Illinois Jazz Society, the Peoria Municipal Band and the River City Blues Society will be invited to participate. Thank you notes are being sent to every community group that is involved. Further publicity has been generated through the Library's newsletter Passages. That this newsletter is read by library patrons is evidenced by the fact that library staff often hears comments about library events when we are outside of the workplace. Interest in the new CDs has been keen. Displays regularly have to be replenished, indicating that new titles are circulating, and staff has been asked to point out the current display after publication of the newsletter. Program accomplishments in relation to goals and objectives. The purpose of this project was to support the following goal: "Ensure that Illinois libraries have access to all sources and formats of information." Over a period of time, technologies change. Peoria Public Library had acquired an extensive LP collection over many years. It circulated well and provided an excellent resource for patrons' informational needs for recorded music. Much time and effort had been placed in the acquisition of this collection and providing 35 access through careful bibliographic notation. However, with the introduction of new technologies that provide different access to recorded music, this collection became less and less accessible to the general public. For those patrons with access to the technology required to reproduce the music recorded on vinyl LPs, this collection still remains viable. With circulation of this collection dropping, and the circulation of CDs rising, more vintage music, that is classical music and music popular in time past, needed to be available in the newer format. To address this issue, several options were available. Vintage music could be added using funds budgeted annually for CDs. Because this acquisition is done gradually, staff time to order and process is spread over a long period of time, instead of being condensed into weeks. While this currently occurs on a small scale, the budget first must cover new releases, allowing a very limited amount of funding for older titles. Another alternative would be to add vintage music to one category at a time. This allows for an organized plan of acquisition, but results in other portions of the collection being ignored or inadequately funded. As new titles become available within other groupings, the opportunity to add those to the collection might be lost. Vintage music could be added to the musical cassette collection. This media is less expensive, but also more fragile, and ruined cassettes are returned to the library on a far more frequent basis than damaged CDs are. Many remastered titles are only available on CD and not on cassette. Adding vintage music to the CD collection through a funding source other than the CD annual budget allocation had several advantages. Patrons could have access to requested titles almost immediately, rather than having to wait as the collection is gradually built up. Titles could be added in an organized and orderly fashion. The librarian ordering the material was familiar with the LP and CD collections, and was aware of the gaps in the CD collection. Since she had worked on the evaluation of the LP collection, she understood what kinds of items needed to be replaced. This option allowed for a timely, well-organized plan of acquisition in format accessible to a majority of Peoria Public Library patrons, without sacrificing resources needed to acquire new and replacement items within the existing CD collection. Awareness of enhanced accessibility is a major element of that access. A program of patron education and awareness was necessary to alert patrons of these new sources of information. Through a series of displays and regular articles in the library newsletter, and an involvement of community groups, this education has begun, and continues to occur. The pairing of the Peoria Public Library with community organizations has benefited both parties. The Library has received increased awareness of its services among organization members and the community organizations have received additional exposure among non members visiting the library. Circulation of new formats versus older formats continues to reflect the need for the newer technology. In 1997 CD circulation was approximately 17,000, while LP circulation was 2,400. This year, 1999, LP circulation has averaged only 28 titles per month, less than 350 per year. This sensational drop in LP circulation demonstrates dramatically the need for accessibility in the newer format. Changes in program direction. The basic format of the proposed program remained the same throughout the program. Some minor changes occurred, due to unforeseeable factors. When selecting titles, minor alterations were made in the number of titles selected within the various categories, due to availability of titles. As with any media, what is currently available changes. The wish list can not always be filled. At the same time, other categories may be undergoing a renaissance, such as jazz, with the result that a great number of vintage titles are currently available. Community involvement by certain groups is more elaborate for some groups than others. Cornstalk Theatre has a large archive of material, which they were more than happy to contribute for the display. In contrast, Peoria Symphony Orchestra had just hired a new publicity director, who didn't have the time to become involved as much with the display as was originally anticipated. Likewise, the International display lacked community involvement as the contact person had other commitments that month. However, whatever amount of involvement was provided, we were able to incorporate the materials within the display. Delay in accomplishing the distribution of items to the public was encountered because of issues affecting the entire bibliographic database for Peoria Public Library. Uploading of OCLC records to our system by 36 CARL postponed the attachment of items to their bibliographic records throughout June and July. Once this was resolved, our non-print cataloger quickly attached the items that had been otherwise processed. They were then available for circulation. The biggest impediment to the project was the resignation of the project director, Ann Phillips in September when she accepted a job at another library. Not only did this create the need to decide who should be the project director, it created staff shortages within the department, resulting in a lack of time to address the project. The Art and Music Department head, Elwanda Phillips, took over the responsibility for the project, with the help of another staff member, Jodi Behymer. Ms. Phillips has been department head for three years and has a good working knowledge of the various collections of the department, as well as having administered other grant projects such as a similar type of grant to purchase classic audio books and videos. Ms. Behymer, while relatively new to the department, has taken over the responsibility of music acquisition and collection maintenance. She has a musical background, having played clarinet in the Prairie Winds, a local symphonic type organization, as well as an eclectic interest in music of all sorts. She has been very enthused about this project, taking great care to do research for the displays and solicit community involvement. Her creative ideas have taken the project a step beyond our original vision. Once the issues of changing the project director and staff participation, as well as ensuring adequate staffing to make sure all functions of the department were performed were resolved, the administration of the project has proceeded smoothly. The projects strengths and weaknesses. This grant provided the opportunity to add vintage music through a funding resource other than relying on the relatively small CD annual budget allocation. This provided several advantages. Patrons were afforded access to requested titles almost immediately, rather than having to wait years as the type of vintage music included in the LP collection was gradually replaced using only funds from the normal budget. Since funding from the normal budget process is first devoted to the acquisition of newly published music, this process would have been very slow. In the meantime, patrons would have been denied access to needed information. Titles could be selected in an organized and orderly fashion. Using information from the LP evaluation project, along with consulting selection aids, the choice of titles could be considered with an eye for balancing the selections among the appropriate categories. By choosing a number of titles at once, we were able to use a "moment in time" view of the collection and its needs which might never again be so clear as it was after the completion of the evaluation project. While some patrons have access only to cassette players and not to CD players, the perception of the Art & Music Staff as they assist patrons in finding material has been that the majority prefer CDs. Many patrons prefer the sound quality of the CDs. Portable CD players have become popular, and many new cars come equipped only with CD players, rather than cassette players. This overall preference of the Library's patrons, in addition to the durability of CDs versus the fragility of cassette tapes, offset the lower cost of cassettes. Even though slightly fewer titles may have been purchased, these titles will be accessible over a longer life per title. Some of the older titles were available only on CD, as opposed to cassette. With the use of new technology to enhance and make titles available in a new format some producers chose to issue titles only on CD. Community involvement in this project enhances awareness of the project beyond the normal avenues of Library publicity. While many members of the organizations involved in supporting the project are aware of the Library's resources, there are always those who are uninformed. This project provides a method of reaching some of those members of the community. In addition, the Art & Music staff has become aware of how we might support those organizations through the maintenance of an appropriate collection, and other sources of information including selected subject bibliographies. By having a small number of staff involved in the project originally, the project was completed in an organized and efficient manner. The librarian who made the selections was familiar with the needs of our patrons. She did the selection of new music acquisitions, as well as conducting the evaluation of the LP collection, so she was highly aware of the needs to be filled. Because of her familiarity with various vendors, she was able to choose appropriately concerning the use of different vendors for the ordering of different types of musical genres. There are certain disadvantages to replacing the older format of LP records with only CDs, as well as to other aspects of the project. 37 By selecting only CDs as opposed to including cassette items, the new format is limiting the number of patrons who can access the medium. Some patrons have access only to cassette players, and are as limited in their use of CDs as they would be in their use of LPs. Having a title in a medium to which patrons have no access is the same as not having the title at all. The cost of CDs is about $4.00 higher per CD on the average, than for a comparable title on cassette. Had we purchased titles available on cassette in that format, we would have been able to extend our purchasing power and increased the size of the collection. Community involvement has its downside. Many of the organizations involved are dependent upon volunteer help. Many of these volunteers are pressed to the limit for time, and asking them to participate in yet another project can seem like the straw that breaks the camels back. Plans for displays that would include materials from other organizations have had to be modified when the information did not materialize. While depending basically upon one staff member with a great deal of knowledge in the area originally streamlined the project, when she resigned with rather short notice, it took a little while for other staff to come up to speed on operations. The public however, was unaware of this small glitch, and soon the project was humming along with new staff administration with even more enthusiasm than was originally present. How the grant "needs" were changed or altered by activities. Through this grant, Peoria Public Library proposed to provide access to music titles in a format available to the majority of its patrons. Experience showed that the majority of patrons no longer has record players available, but are requesting that material be available in CD format. Because a great number of items in the music collection were available only on LP albums, many vintage titles collected over a long period of time needed to be replaced in the format now accessible to our patrons. The Library desired to make this transition in format as efficiently and as promptly as possible. In addition, it was desired to make the public aware of this increased access in an organized an appropriate fashion. When the actual administration of the project began, it became apparent that minor changes would need to occur. While the original proposal suggested that 250 titles be ordered, actual orders placed included only 246 titles, slightly short of the original goal. In addition, the allocation of titles within categories was changed somewhat, as appropriate titles were more readily available in some categories than others. These changes were relatively minor. Thirty-two titles were ordered in the classical selection rather than thirty-five, eighteen of gospel music rather than twenty, eleven instead of fifteen marches, seven of masses and oratorios rather than ten, twenty-nine rather than thirty popular music titles, and twenty-eight showtunes and soundtracks rather than thirty-five. Ordering three more additional titles in the holiday category, two in international, nine in jazz and two additional rock titles offset these cancellations. The cost of the CDs proved to be slightly more than originally estimated. The original orders came to $3,424.65. This amount was reduced by unavailable titles, for which the orders were canceled, so that ultimately the project only went $97.67 over budget, an amount that will be absorbed by the regular non print budget of Peoria Public Library. The effect of the cancellations however, was to reduce the number of titles available. Six classical titles were canceled, and two pop titles, three jazz titles, one gospel title, one blues title, one march title, one holiday title, and one international title. Overall these cancellations did not affect the distribution of titles within the categories significantly, although an effort will be made in the future to replace these canceled titles with appropriate substitutes form regular budgetary funds. One of the project's biggest setbacks has been making the titles available to the public as quickly as possible. Delays in the cataloging process originally delayed the delivery of the majority of titles to the department. Even though they had been shipped by the vendors, and processed in a timely manner in Technical Services, the uploading of the bibliographic records was postponed as was the uploading of all bibliographic record for Peoria Public Library during the summer months. Some titles have required original cataloging, which further delays the process. Cataloging musical items can be an extremely time consuming process requiring specialized knowledge. Our cataloger is justifiable concerned that the cataloging be done correctly, providing excellent long term access, rather than hurrying the process to make the items more readily available in the short term. A few items are still in Technical Services, awaiting the arrival of shelf list 38 cards so that they can be correctly processed. These items should be available within a few days. While most items were shipped quickly, a few items were backordered. These items dribbled in a few at a time, arriving slowly but surely. While some community organizations provided an abundance of materials, and even arranged the display, others provided less help. Each display has involved vastly different amounts of staff time to research and arrange, often more than originally anticipated. The need to accomplish this has actually proven to be a bonus, as new staff has become more aware of our collections and what we have to offer, as well as incorporating other parts of various collections, such as reference books into the display, in addition to becoming familiar with the many community organizations and types of patrons that Peoria Public Library serves. The response of the public to the new material has been extremely positive. Inquires have been made as to the location of displays after publication of news articles, and materials on display are quickly checked out. When the dramatic drop in circulation of LPs, from a circulation of 2,400 in 1997, to a probable circulation of less than 350 this year is taken into account in addition to the public's interest in new materials, the need for transfer of information to new formats becomes even more apparent than at the time we were requesting this grant. This project has illustrated plainly the need for the Library to make an all out commitment to changing formats as rapidly as possible, beyond what has been accomplished with the aid of this grant. Meeting the goals of the Illinois State Library's Long Range Plan. Through this project, Peoria Public Library was attempting to address the goal of ensuring that Illinois libraries have access to all sources and formats of information. Peoria Public Library has built an impressive collection of LP records over a period of many years. After a comprehensive review of this collection, the collection included approximately 18,000 items. This is in contrast to the CD collection, which though much more intensively used, contains only about 4,500 titles. According to a recent special census, the City of Peoria, which the Peoria Public Library serves, has a population of 119,227. In addition to these citizens, Peoria is the center of a far larger metropolitan area. The Illinois Statistical Abstract estimates the population of this three county region at 345,774 in 1997. As a member of the Alliance Library System, Peoria Public Library also makes available all of its non-print collections to other libraries through interlibrary loan to serve other Illinois citizens. Through this project the Peoria Public Library has added approximately 5% more items to its collection. These items are now available for circulation to Peoria Public Library's patrons, as well as to reciprocal borrowers from the Alliance Library System, and to other libraries through interlibrary loan. The majority of these patrons are increasingly unable to access our large and comprehensive collection of LP albums as fewer and fewer turntables remain operable. The current preferred technology is that of the CD player. By increasing the number of items in this collection, we make available information in a newer format. "In on fell swoop, the CD both obliterated the audio medium that it replace, the LP, and extended its reach into areas that were never available to the vinyl disc." (Stereo Review, May 1996, p. 30.) Producers have made available numbers of vintage titles on the newer format, remastering the originals, so that such masters of the blues as Billie Holiday, as well as a huge variety of other vintage music of by gone times is now newly collectible in an improved format. By making available these titles to the public, Peoria Public Library enhances not only its mission of meeting the information needs of its patrons, but serves to support other arts organizations by providing quality music to the citizens of central Illinois, and through the extension of reciprocal borrowing and interlibrary loan programs to other citizens of Illinois. While an addition of 5% to the collection is a modest gain, and can not compare to the much larger LP collection built over decades, it serves to begin providing equitable access of information in alternative and viable formats. It provides a foundation, example, and guideline on which to build further development of new formats and technologies as they evolve. Peoria Public Library remains committed, as does the Illinois State Library to meeting the needs of Illinois citizens as regards these fresh formats. 39 |
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