[Publib] background music in libraries

[Dale McNeill]

When I used to manage a *tiny* branch library in the Houston area (2,000
square feet), we kept a radio on all the time. Back then, there as a great
radio station that played music from the 30s and 40s.  Our customers loved
it.  The music was just barely loud enough to hear.  The reason that we did
it was that otherwise every customer heard ever little sound another
customer made (sighs, coughs, anything at all) so the music actually gave
people a little privacy in our cinder block building.  If anyone mentioned
it in a negative way, that's what we explained; people understood right
away.

When I managed a large central library (some 640,000 square feet) we had
live piano music noon to 1:00 pm and 5:00 to 6:00 pm on the first floor,
something like Nordstrom.  It was very popular.  The players were volunteers
and auditioned for the opportunity.  They played in a wide variety of
styles: country, gospel, classical, r & b, "barroom", "lounge", and so
forth.  One player, a jazz guy, was homeless until  he volunteered at the
piano.  After that, he got a job and housing!  This wasn't my idea--it was
the idea of the person before me and I simply supported it.

Regards,

Dale

On Mon, Mar 17, 2008 at 5:13 PM, Mark Arend <Arend at winnefox.org> wrote:

>
> One of our smaller libraries has a radio playing background music in the
> library.  Generally it's been well-received but some people don't care for
> it.  The director would appreciate comments--pro & con--of other small
> libraries that have tried this.
>
>
>
>
> -------------------------------
>
> Mark W. Arend, Assistant Director
> Winnefox Library System
> 106 Washington Ave.
> Oshkosh, WI  54901
> (920) 236-5222           fax: (920) 236-5228
>
> mailto:arend at winnefox.org                 http://www.winnefox.org/
>
>
> Recently read:
>   Larry Niven:   Fleet of worlds
>   Jules Verne:   Journey to the Center of the Earth   (audio)
>   William Alexander:    The $64 tomato
>   J.K. Rowling:  Harry Potter & the deathly hallows   (audio)
>   Jim Butcher:   Dead beat
>   Mort Zachter:   Dough--a memoir
>
>
>
> "A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of
> acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy."
>                          -- James Madison
>
>
>
>
>
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