Decluttering experts make it sound simple. Sort your possessions into piles — one to keep, one to toss and a pile of maybe stuff. Donate, throw away or sell what’s in the toss pile. And if you don’t use those maybe items in a few months, get rid of them.
Easy, right? It’s easy with old sweaters. Parting with music is harder.
I have CDs I never listen to at home, but that hit a fun note on a road trip. I have a collection of holiday music, most of it played only on Christmas.
In my basement, I have boxes of albums. My music on vinyl was acquired mostly during college — I’m not counting my late husband’s mammoth Grateful Dead collection. How could I say goodbye to my records? Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Patti Smith, Randy Newman, Neil Young, all that music is attached to memories of those up-and-down years.
Also in my basement are albums everybody my age has — “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Tapestry,” “Thriller,” “Rumours,” “Born to Run,” and (I’m not even embarrassed to admit) the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack.
Upstairs, in a tall CD rack, there’s music I would gladly dump. I’d start with Enya, a CD I got from a co-worker who was unloading his music stash because everything was on his iPod.
I would happily trade my Enya for your Modest Mouse. Or give me all your Morrissey, you can have my Mellencamp.
What has me considering a cleanup is a music swap next weekend at the downtown Everett Public Library. This Sunday is the last of several music drop-off days for those who want to pick up new tunes at the swap, which is scheduled for noon-3 p.m. July 11. Bring into the library your gently used CDs, vinyl albums or cassette tapes. For each item brought in Sunday, you’ll get a ticket to use in trade for a CD, album or tape.
“Make sure to keep the tickets,” said Lisa Labovitch, one of two history specialists in the library’s Northwest Room. She is organizing the swap, a first for the library.
Labovitch expects some people will just bring items next weekend. “If it happens, it’s fine,” she said. With limited library staffing, she hopes to have music in advance so the swap will go smoothly. By late last week, people had brought in “a nice stack of CDs and a little bit of vinyl,” she said.
“We’re hoping to get old cassette tapes, too. I grew up with cassettes — CDs came out when I was in junior high,” the 34-year-old Labovitch said.
Sorry, homemade mix tapes won’t be accepted. The library is only collecting original records, CDs and cassettes. “We don’t want to encourage pirating,” she said.
“I’m excited. Somebody brought in three different Lush albums. We have Lush to Cab Calloway,” she said. So far, the swap stockpile is short on one music genre. “Country fans, they need to step up their game,” Labovitch said.
Next weekend’s event will be a chance to “freecycle,” she said, with the bonus of a free concert. The Everett bands Fauna Shade and Crater Lakes will perform in the library auditorium during the swap. “It’s nice to connect with an artist and see them perform live,” Labovitch said.
One goal of the swap is to promote the library’s collection of local music, all available for checkout.
“We want to promote Everett bands,” she said. “A lot of them have donated music to us. It’s really cool, people have just felt honored to be represented in the local library.”
The swap and free concert were inspired by the Everett Music Initiative, Labovitch said. That organization hosted the Fisherman’s Village Music Festival this spring and last year in Everett, along with the city’s Fourth of July music stage Saturday at Legion Memorial Park.
A Chicago native who has been at the Everett library since 2012, Labovitch said she and her husband moved here loaded down with “books and vinyl.” In her 20s, she was a big fan of 1990s techno dance music.
She might not be dancing at the swap, but the bands are sure to liven up the place.
“We’ll be breaking the stereotype of a quiet library,” Labovitch said.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.
Music swap
The Everett Public Library will host a music swap form noon-3 p.m. July 11 in the library auditorium, 2702 Hoyt Ave., Everett. During the event, there will be live music by Everett bands Fauna Shade and Crater Lakes. To participate and get tickets for the free swap, bring gently used CDs, vinyl and cassettes (no copied material) to Lisa at the library’s reference desk 1-5 p.m. July 5.
Information: http://epls.org/calendar/main-library/4445
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
