Today’s post comes from our Technology Coordinator, Jared:
When was the last time you visited a record store? For that matter when was the last time you purchased an album from anywhere? Depending on your generation, there may not even be a time you remember paying for music at all. With Spotify, Youtube, Apple Music and the like, your tunes are just one click away and (if you don’t m
ind a few ads) free as well. So I was surprised when a patron at our circulation desk recently asked me where we kept our new CDs. On my way to show him our selection it occurred to me that we don’t really have a section for “new” CD’s. Like most libraries and retail stores today, our CD selection has been downsized to one shelving unit, with most genres melded together in a section labeled “popular”.
The change happened subtly. Stereos and computers stopped catering to compact discs. The old 5-disc CD changers became harder to find. New carmakers stopped installing cd players and went exclusively bluetooth. It seems that CDs are on their way to the dead format cemetery, ready to be laid to rest next to cassette tape and laser disc. We have seen so many of these changes in musical mediums over the years that this just feels like a natural progression, and many would agree these changes are a good thing (after all, not many today would want a car with an 8-track player). But something about this particular change feels different. The move from physical to digital takes something tangible away from the listener, and that is the record collection.
Until recently, having unlimited access to a song meant owning a copy of it. Even a casual listener would find themselves with five or ten of their favorites in the car’s center console. The avid collectors on the other hand, would be filling up half their homes with shelving and crates, still on the hunt for that one rare gem. Whether it’s vinyl, tapes or CDs, someones collection (or lack there of) would speak volumes about them, in a way that a playlist wouldn’t. Even a few albums could act as a tell-all autobiography. Collections like these were also a window into the past. Sifting through a grandparent’s dusty old jazz records, or vinyls from the Woodstock era was like cracking open a musical time-capsule.
Nowadays if you ask anyone under 30 how they listen to music, the answer will no doubt be the name of a streaming service. For those who aren’t familiar, companies 
like Spotify and Apple Music, offer unlimited access to a massive music library on any computer or smartphone for a monthly subscription cost. Essentially it’s like leasing your music the way you may lease a car. For many people, this is the better option. The cost is low and any song you’ve ever heard is at your fingertips. It’s a no-brainer from an economical standpoint. Companies make more money if they can hook you on a monthly subscription over a one-time purchase. But it raises some important questions about how we experience music. Does the music enthusiast derive joy solely from the listening? For myself that’s only half of it. The rest comes from tracking down discontinued albums, completing a band’s discography in my collection, flipping through the liner notes to learn more about an artist. These little achievements are something that just can’t be replicated through the streaming process. And so I wonder about kids growing up in the post-Napster era. Will they feel the same connection to their music when it’s only rented to them from a corporation? Will future generations really get the same sense of nostalgia by pulling up grandpa’s old Spotify playlist?
As our library’s Technology Coordinator, it’s my job to research the latest and greatest in the tech world, so as not to be left in the digital dust. In a nutshell: newer, faster, and simpler is almost always better, but there are those occasions when the analog world seems to have some magic that the latest 8-core processor just can’t reproduce. So if you’ve ever thought about dedicating a bookcase to the music that tells your story, now is a great time. The beautiful thing about deprecated mediums like CDs is that they tend to be cheap! CDs at the Friends Of The Library Book Sale are only .25 cents and we usually have some for sale year round. If you want to sample before you buy, don’t forget the library still has some great classics in multiple genres on the shelf.
If you have a kindle, Ipad, or smartphone, you have access to a world of books, movies and magazines from the comfort of your own home. Our library alone has access to several apps including 
d the product they carry is built on the community around it. This creates a unique experience in every bookstore you frequent, you’ll never find the same selection twice. Used bookstores are also the place to go if you’re looking to bulk up your classics collection (I’ve been known to walk out with a stack of mass market 
Have friends who are just as into reading as you are? Start a book swap between friends! This is a fantastic way to read new titles, and share books that you’ve loved with friends. That way, you both get to read them, and talk about your favorite titles and characters. After all, what’s a better gift to give and receive than a new book. I’ve been trading books with friends for years, and I find it’s a fantastic way to read things I normally never would have picked up, and learn more about my friends taste in books. It’s like having an informal book club, without all the pressure of meetings and who’s bringing the snacks.
On July 21, it will be FIFTY years since mankind first walked on the Moon.
[for reference, an MP3 recording of the Star Spangled Banner runs around 900 Kb – half your memory]). The entire country surged forward with that dream, no doubt spurred on as an homage to Kennedy following his assassination. TV picked up the dream with serious and non-serious programs like 
idn’t even manage to smash a probe onto the moon until 1962. We made it through the Gemini program, only to learn that some things couldn’t be rushed or corners cut when the Apollo 1 crew – Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee – burned to death in an oxygen fire in a test module, because the pressurized doors opened the wrong way. This led to a pause – there was no Apollo 2 or 3, and 4-5-6 were all unmanned. If ever there was a lot of pressure on a crew, Apollo 7 was the first 3-manned crew to blast off Earth, period. Missions 8-10 looped the moon, giving us the famous Earthrise photo.
lunar lander settled on the moon, Armstrong sent out the famous words, “The Eagle has landed,” followed shortly by 
In a bizarre coincidence, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826 — the nation’s 50th birthday. The two founding fathers and political adversaries died within five hours of each other. 
The Declaration of Independence wasn’t signed on July 4, 1776. 
Movie Matinees
Travel Meetups
Open Art Studio in the Library Loft
Mindful Meditation
Cat Tales – Writers Group
Apollo 11 ~ Documentary
The Bald Eagle
That’s Weird!
New Science From Mars
The Cheshire Library Blog 