Jane Austen said, “Without music, life would be a blank to me.” Leo Tolstoy said, “Music is the shorthand of emotion.” Corinne Bailey Ray sang. “Girl, put your records on. Tell me your favorite song. You go ahead, let your hair down.” They’re definitely on the right track!  

Since we began including vinyl records at our FOLSOI book sales, we’ve unleashed a wave of euphoria that’s been sweeping across Southport. This past Saturday, our book sale at Southport Realty once again featured vinyl records, and we sold over 90 of them, helping catch up on our pandemic-limited sales goals for 2021.

FOLSOI president Carol Brolley and volunteer Doug Ausbury comb the stacks for hit records.

While some patrons headed inside to search through the hundreds of new fiction and nonfiction books recently added to our FOLSOI book sale shelves, others spent their time flipping through records from all genres from classical and polka and big band to country, pop, and rock. Our customers included serious collectors and music lovers young and old, reminiscing about concerts they had attended, laughing and sharing recollections, and looking forward to sharing their “new” oldies with their children, grandchildren, even their parents.

In a year where the pandemic has taken so much from us, it seems that there’s a yearning for the simple “old school” joys of books and music. We plan to offer vinyl records at our future book sales, so bring along a sturdy tote bag, wear your favorite concert tee shirt, and get your dancing shoes out!

If you have records that you’d like to donate, contact us at friendsoflibrary910@yahoo.com and we’ll arrange to pick them up. Let your friends know that we’d be grateful for their record donations. All sales benefit our libraries and bring joy to your neighbors!