Kanawha County Public Library removes audio CDs as circulation dwindles

Print circulation (books, magazines) makes up 75% of overall circulation. DVD circulation makes up 20%, and other audio circulation (audio books, mp3 players) makes up 3%, according to library data.

That same year, 108 unique users out of the 71,000 in the library’s system checked out a music CD.

“All the decisions we’re making [are] based on what is being used,� Mitchell said.

Audio books on CD are staying in the collection.

A few other considerations came into the decision. It’s harder to buy newer CDs and replace older ones, and some KCPL branch libraries have limited space for CDs.

Future of the CDs

Some of the CDs will be sold. The KCPL is in talks with Michael Lipton, director of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, to have him take the rest of the collection.

“One of the things we do at the Hall of Fame is preserve things ... I’m also into keeping collections together and not having them just get parsed out all over the place,� Lipton said. “I thought that our missions might intersect, and we could work together to try and keep the collection intact and make it accessible to people. “

Lipton said he’s asking the owners of the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Town Center mall for additional storefront space to establish a lending library for music.

Upset patron

To Jeremy Brannon, the decision is devastating. He’s been checking out CDs regularly from KCPL since the 1990s. His favorite genres are new wave and classic rock.

“I’m kind of stuck in the ’80s,� he said.

Brannon listens to the CDs in his car and on a DVD player.

“I just like getting my hands on CDs,� he said. “I don’t like the whole burden of having to log in to this and that to access music.�

Brannon said he thinks moving the music to the Music Hall of Fame could limit access. He’s also concerned that the library didn’t hold a public comment period about the decision.

Mitchell said there’s a policy for getting rid of books based on usage, age and accuracy.

“People have the opportunity to talk and provide input of things they want to see in our collection,� she said. “But, when it comes down to something like this, the numbers were so low, there wasn’t the usage.�

The library offers music download services, such as Hoopla, which allow library users to digitally check out music. Brannon pointed out that not everyone in the county can afford internet access.

Mitchell said the KCPL is expanding its mobile hotspot checkout program from 40 hotspots to 100 in the next few months.

In an email to Lipton, Brannon said, “Getting rid of all that great music is going to hurt a generation of young people who might not otherwise be exposed to eclectic, diverse music.�

Other libraries

The South ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Public Library removed CDs about five years ago, said library director Todd Duncan, who, like Mitchell, cited declining interest and a need for space. He said only a handful of people were checking out the CDs. Recently, the SCPL, which is not affiliated with the KCPL, began circulating vinyl records and portable record players, he said.

The Putnam County Library system still has its collection of a few hundred CDs, Director Megan Tarbett said. She said the usage of the music CDs has been “less and less and less.�

“It’s a very, very small collection, which is why we’re leaving those at the moment,� she said.

Music and audiobook CDs, Tarbett said, are pretty much a “non-growth collection,� as the technology transfers to digital audio.

“A public library is not an archive. It’s a living, breathing collection,� she said.

Those in Kanawha County still interested in checking out CDs may borrow them from the Putnam County Library system, Tarbett said.