Hello,
In Swansea, our Central Library has a music licence and we do play music from time to time although mostly to tie in with an event or promotion. We have a zoned sound system so that we can confine the music to certain areas of the library which is very useful.
On the ground floor of the library (near the entrances and café) there is generally a lot of hustle and bustle and the music seems to provide a tempering background sound which overrides and smoothes out the more atonal din of doors opening and closing, cups clanking, machines pinging and whirring, people chatting, buggy wheels coming up the drive etc.
At Christmas we played a selection of seasonal music on our ground floor which gave the library a festive atmosphere and people did seem to like it. We have played film soundtracks to tie in with our Oscars celebration - staff also dressed up in Hollywood glamour outfits for the day so people knew that there was something special going on (not that the staff aren't always glamourous...)
In my opinion you need to be thoughtful about what you play and also where and when you play it. We wouldn't play music on the first floor of the library (more serious non fiction, reference and IT areas) where people are likely to want to think and study for example. With a common sense approach we have had no complaints at all about this issue.
Rebecca Williams
Principal Librarian - Performance, Development and Training
Swansea Library and Information Service
Civic Centre
Oystermouth Road
Swansea
SA1 3SN
Tel: 01792 637132
Fax: 01792 636235
Web: www.swansea.gov.uk/libraries
Blog: www.swansealibraries.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/PaigeLibrarian
-----Original Message-----
From: lis-pub-libs: UK Public Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mark Taylor
Sent: 20 April 2009 10:49
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Piped music
Hi
I'm Mark Taylor, Head of Corporate Marketing and Media Relations at CILIP.
I've had a media query about Gloucestershire Libraries playing piped music in
their libraries http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5185201/Libraries-
criticised-for-playing-music.html
Does anyone know if this happens elsewhere in the country, or only
Gloucestershire? If anyone has experience of it - have they got a view if it
was favourably or negatively received by people using the library and staff?
Many Thanks
Mark
Mark Taylor
CILIP
7 Ridgmount St
London
WC1E 7AE
Direct line: 020 7255 0654
Mobile: 07792 635 305
Fax: 020 7255 0561
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