Many years ago employees of the Sound Archives had to fly to Maine and rent a U-Haul to bring back more than just a truckload of music. People following behind honked their horns in fear of the truck’s wheels flying off from the weight of the donation.
It is donations like this one that has kept the University libraries on their fingertips cataloguing some of the finer arts and materials for students.
It is also these donations that allow the Music Library, Sound Archives and the Browne Popular Culture Library to have their annual record and poster sale.
Ten to 15 thousand records are set out today for students to browse and purchase CD’s, LP’s, 45’s, 78’s, and among other items; cassettes, 8-tracks, paperback novel books, comics, videos, science fiction and music books, fanzines, dime novels, trading cards, magazines, vintage paperbacks, audio equipment, piano rolls, sheet music–only to name a few.
“It’s a well advertised and notorious sale,” William Schurk, professor and Sound Recording Archivist, said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for students.”
Last year the sale made about $6,000 for all the collections combined, which is then used for more library materials.
“Most of the stuff are things we’ve seen before so it’s nice to see people get use out of them,” Patty Falk, Special Collections Cataloger for the music and popular culture libraries said.
The popular culture library is even giving away their surplus of Star Trek posters.
Falk said that one goal of the sale is to keep moving the extra items out by offering them to students in order to make room for new materials to come in.
“The videos might be a highlight because we have so many commercial films, and we haven’t had that before,” Falk said.
The University’s internationally known special collections have brought materials from all over the world to the hands of students.
“Because we have been so internationally heard about, people so far away from Bowing Green want to bring us their stuff,” Schurk said. “They ask why we have this sale during the week when it’s hard for them to get here, I tell them we are a school and the University comes first.”
It is the duplicates of materials, or items that are not collected by the library, that students can purchase for themselves.
Whether it’s The Beatles, Duke Ellington, comic books or “The Godfather” movie posters, the prices for sale items range from 25 cents to $6.00. Any of which is can be paid with cash, check or students can even bursar their purchases.
The sale is in the Pallister Conference Room, on the first floor of Jerome Library. Doors open today at 1:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and will be open Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
