You won’t find strict librarians in this library. Or signs telling you to shhh. Or any books, for that matter. But you might just find a rare copy of that album you’ve been hunting for since 1982. This is the newly opened Vinyl Library, tucked away in an empty shop on a residential street in Stoke Newington.
Set up by two friends, it’s a volunteer-run, non-profit, vinyl-only lending library stocked entirely with donations from the public. The idea is to create a ‘welcome, open space for sharing’, with a £1 membership fee and a small rental charge for taking out a maximum of five records.
Sophie Austin, one of the founders says: “We like the idea of getting people tactile with a piece of vinyl and getting everyone connected to that again. Holding something, seeing the artwork, looking at the back, reading the dates, is wonderful.”
And it’s proving to be a hit already. The Vinyl Library’s Facebook page has gained more than 2,000 members and they’ve been inundated with offers of donations.
Pop in for a spin at Unit 1, Foulden Road, London N16 7UU.
Via. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2013/jul/01/vinyl-lending-library-opens-london