The Seattle Public Library’s Special Collections has done a fantastic job of preserving Seattle’s local history, but one of Seattle’s mainstays, its music, has yet to be addressed. This project broke new ground for Seattle Public Library by establishing a foundation for preserving audio recordings as part of the library’s special collections and providing the framework for building a collection in years to come.

In addition to writing a collection scope statement, Dylan Joy and Dave Zelonka examined the issues of preservation, copyright, and access in regards to collecting archival audio material and tested a pilot collection. Now equipped with the necessary tools, the Seattle Public Library is closer to providing access to the art and history of Seattle’s jazz music than ever before.