Vinyl is back! When WCL’s original record collection was sold off in the early 2000’s it really looked as if the days of vinyl were over, replaced by those shiny new indestructible (yeah, right!) compact discs. However, to everyone’s surprise, vinyl has made a comeback and, while nowhere near the massive sales figures of the early ‘80’s, interest is substantial enough to warrant relaunching a Vinyl collection as part of the library’s lending service.

To mark the occasion a Vinyl Collection Release Party was held on Sat September 24 at Central Library featuring a guest panel, djs and prizes to win. The afternoon was a great success with over 70 people attending the panel discussion, hosted by librarian John Heighes, who introduced music journos Grant Smithies and Nick Bollinger, Liz Mathews, drummer for Wellington band Hex, Lisa Brown from Slowboat Records and ‘Taco’ aka Apa, from Death Ray Records. You can listen to the talk on Soundcloud here.
Over 100 records were borrowed while visitors were entertained by an unusual event….music in the library supplied by librarian djs!

The Vinyl collection itself has wide range and should have items to please most music fans. The repressed originals including Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland and the Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream, feature all the lavish artwork of the originals and are a joy to look at, let alone hear, and several of the original albums, such as Brian Eno and David Byrne’s My Life In the Bush of Ghosts have had tracks added and expanded into double albums, while recent releases such as Plaid’s The Digging Remedy and Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool feature fantastic artwork and production that only the digital era could create. All in all it’s a music lovers treat and even if you don’t own a record player (there is a turntable listening post at the library) you are encouraged to check out the collection.
Like CDs the Vinyl is $1 for a week.