Library's Unusual Collection Is a Jackpot for Jazz Lovers

Hundreds of residents walk through the San Ramon Library's sliding doors every day, but few know that housed in those familiar brick walls is one of the largest publicly accessible jazz collections, chronicling a sound that has connected generations.

The San Ramon Library boasts 3,513 items in circulation that range from classic films and books to hundreds of CDs. Albums like Dizzy Gillespie's bebop and "Norah Jones Live in New Orleans" showcase modern and timeless sound.

How the San Ramon Library Got Lucky

In 1992, library branch manager Joyce Gunn saw an article in the "Library Journal" announcing the Smithsonian's search for sites to host a traveling jazz exhibit. Taking into consideration the jazz bands in schools throughout San Ramon and the presence of jazz music in the city, she applied.

The following year, Gunn found out that the San Ramon library was going to be the only California site for the exhibit.

"Not knowing much about jazz, I started talking to people as they came into the library, and people I met in the community," says Gunn.

From these conversations, jazz enthusiasts throughout the East Bay united to form a jazz committee that would help make decisions to supplement the exhibit.

After the committee decided to pursue building a jazz collection, the Library Foundation wrote letters to all the jazz recording companies they could find asking for donations.

"Over the next six months, it was like Christmas," Gunn said. "We got over 800 CDs from these companies. Every few days we'd get a box...from another company."

That first exhibit, focusing on Duke Ellington, stayed in San Ramon for six weeks in 1996 and gained over $100,000 in sponsorships from various organizations. 

Lure for Jazz Fans, Performers

But the jazz committee didn't limit itself to books and CDs. It reached out to jazz performers and brought live performances to the community.

Members coordinated 31 public programs, including two assemblies for every elementary and middle school in the district. These assemblies were a tremendous success, as night-owl musicians woke themselves up to perform for school children.

"I'd just get goosebumps… watching the kids just get into this music," Gunn said. "[They are] just strumming their air guitar. One kid had his shoelaces untied and he was just strumming his shoelaces, and they were just bouncing around."

Lynn Smith, an optometrist, self-proclaimed "jazz junkie" and member of the original jazz committee, helped launch the city's popular jazz night series, which draws local and touring jazz talents to perform at the San Ramon Library.

"Fifteen or 20 groups would apply and we would listen to their promos," says fellow longtime jazz committee member Harry Hanover. The committee would try to vary the programs so there would be multiple styles of music in any given night.

While the exhibit brought jazz to life in San Ramon in 1996, the Friday Night concert series at the library has helped continue the local legacy of jazz music.

"We actually get musicians sending us packages and concert tapes because they want to perform here," Gunn said.

Both musicians and the audience revel in the closeness these concerts bring.

"Part of the appeal of the library is that it is very intimate," Hanover said. "And it's amazing how well the sound is here in the library."

Money collected from concert admission sustains the library's jazz collection. The popular series resumes this fall.

Help from Jazz Lovers

Besides money raised at the concerts, donations have been an essential part of acquiring and sustaining a diverse and deep collection.

The largest donors to the collection are jazz scholar Grover Sales, who wrote liner notes for jazz recordings and Frank Kofsky, also a jazz scholar who focused specifically on Coletrain.

One of the most treasured donations given to the library by Grover Sales was a book of liner notes in a 1936 discography that include autographs of legendary jazz musicians, most notably Louis Armstrong. The book contains Louis Armstrong's autograph--in green ink.

Going Digital

One of the most pressing issues facing this collection is the need to digitize precious materials like Armstrong's signature and reel-to-reel tapes that would otherwise disinigrate over time.

"There's a wealth of material here that would be great for the public to have access to, especially people who are doing research on jazz, or teaching classes on jazz, or students taking classes," says Gunn. "But it's a matter of making it into a format that is accessible."

The digitization of this collection will require applying for grants, which can be a time-consuming process. However, digitizing the collection will make the materials more accessible to the general public, and also will take up less space.

In the meantime, the catalogued collection of jazz materials are accessible to library patrons outside the local community. Through the Link library system, items can be requested and sent to libraries across the country for individuals looking for specific titles. This allows the collection to circulate across the national jazz community.

"It's always a kick to get a request from someplace like Chicago Public Library, someplace that you know has a really big jazz collection," Gunn said. "But they don't have what we have."