By Anita Weier
Friends of Lakeview Library
Inspired by his love of records and his love of libraries, Tim Nelson has organized a vinyl sale for the past three years to benefit Lakeview Library. The sales raise money for the Friends of Lakeview Library, who in turn donate funds requested by the librarians to fulfill library users’ needs.
The sales have benefited from renewed interest in vinyl recordings in the past decade. First year sales totaled $1,600, but sales have now settled at around $800 per year.
The fourth annual vinyl sale will take place Saturday, July 20, from 9 am‒3 pm, at Lakeview Library. Most records cost $1‒$4, but collectables may be higher in price.
Nelson, a Northsider who lives in Mendota Hills, has been fascinated by records since he was a child. “I really got interested in collecting when people started getting rid of their records when CDs came out,” he said. “There were all these good used records for sale. I started collecting classical music.”
His idea for the vinyl sale came about after he realized that some friends had gotten rid of their record players but still had records. He persuaded them to donate their records to the library. “Janet Battista gave us some really good records, and others donated, so I thought I would try the sale,” he explained. He has been assisted with the sales by Mary Manering, Gail Grubis, Karen Hickel, Lesleigh Luttrell and Barbara Karlen.
Northsiders are encouraged to bring records to Lakeview Library for donation. “I’m always looking,” Nelson said. “The most popular records are 1960s and ‘70s rock and roll, blues and jazz,” he said. Some people hesitate to donate because online sites mislead about value, according to Nelson. “Often the prices listed are what people are asking, not what they receive,” he explained. “To have collectable value, records have to be in pristine condition. One scratch drops the value to a tenth of what it would be otherwise.”
Online sources indicate that sales of vinyl LP records reached 13 million in 2017. The fact that records remain popular was evidenced on Record Store Day in April, which has been an annual event since 2008. Two popular local sales sites are Strictly Discs on Monroe Street and Mad City Music on Atwood Avenue — and your local library.