For many years, local libraries have allowed patrons to check out physical media—from vinyl LPs to eight tracks to cassettes to CDs—free of charge. Last month, Multnomah County Library launched the Library Music Project, an online platform that’s continuing this legacy of accessibility by curating an online collection of albums from local artists that you can listen to without ever setting foot inside the grand cathedral of books.
“I think in a fundamental way, this is exactly what public libraries have always done,” says Shawn Cunningham, Multnomah County Library’s Director of Communications and Strategic Initiatives. “They are reflections of the communities they serve. At Multnomah County Library, our mission statement is ‘Empowering our community to learn and create.’ Everyone who lives here knows that Portland and Multnomah County have a rich, vibrant music and arts scene. The library thought that this was a place where we could really plug in and bring some things to the community.”
For the library to stay relevant, Cunningham says it’s had to evolve to better serve the needs of this changing community. Since the amount of digital content people use has more than tripled over the past five years, that’s meant expanding Multnomah County Library’s collection—right now it has more than 600,000 titles available digitally. So far, the Library Music Project has clocked 8,600 streams and more than 200 downloads.
