UVic libraries to auction off large vinyl collection
More than 5,000 LPs up for bids as university looks to increase space
Vinyl collectors could snag a bargain at the University of Victoria’s libraries, which are auctioning off thousands of LPs to downsize their music collection and make more space in the age of streaming services.
The libraries have listed more than 5,900 records on the B.C. Auction website in lots of about 350 to 450 records.
Lists of titles are attached to each block but aren’t guaranteed to be exact, according to the listings. Bids ranged from 50 cents to $26 by Thursday afternoon.
Bill Blair, music and media librarian at the university, said the auction blocks include a few 78s but mostly 45s.
Bidders may not know exactly what they might win but they can count on a selection from mostly classical music and bit of jazz, pop and world, he said.
After the auction is over, about 15,000 to 20,000 records will remain in the collection, estimated Blair. Such a sale isn’t unusual but part of regular downsizing libraries
I think it’s because albums have a certain prestige among younger people; they’re in ‘vogue’ again.
do to make more space for new media, he said.
The libraries recently took the record collection out of closed storage to make it public and to repurpose the storage space into student and instructional space.
“At that point, I thought this would be a good opportunity to look though the LPs and talk to the school of music and see what they needed to support the curriculum,” Blair said, “and also to look at circulation stats and see which albums weren’t circulating or hadn’t circulated in a very long time.”
Blair also looked for duplication in compact discs and streaming formats such as Spotify.
They removed a lot of “mainstay classical” to be auctioned off but kept plenty of spoken word, jazz and 20th-century albums not available in other formats.
“This is the way of the world — they’re relying more on Spotify and streaming music,” he said.
Blair added that library users these days are checking out more LPs than CDs, particularly people who aren’t students.
“I think it’s because albums have a certain prestige among younger people, they’re in ‘vogue’ again,” he said. “I mean, I like LPs. There’s something about the album cover, the artwork and all that.”
Buyers can expect a bit of wear and tear on the records based on how popular they’ve been among library users.
The auction closes Friday at 8:10 p.m. and buyers will have to arrange to pick up the boxes from the university.