Wann, Jey

Jey Wann

Crossref

OLA Quarterly

Without Music, Life Would Be a Mistake: What Oregon Library Employees Listen to at Work

OJS at Oregondigital.org (Oregon State University / University of Oregon)

OLA Quarterly Volume 20 Number 2 Outside the Lines: Creativity in Libraries August 2014 Without Music, Life Would Be a Mistake: What Oregon Library Employees Listen to at Work Jey Wann Oregon Documents Coordinator, Oregon State Library Recommended Citation Wann, J. (2014). Without Music, Life Would Be a Mistake: What Oregon Library Employees Listen to at Work. OLA Quarterly, 20(2), 15-17. http://dx.doi.org/10.7710/1093-7374.1759 © 2014 by the author(s). OLA Quarterly is an official publication of the Oregon Library Association | ISSN 1093-7374  15Without Music, Life Would Be a Mistake: What Oregon Library Employees Listen to at WorkMusic has been called many things: the food of love, the universal language of mankind, the highest of the fine arts, the wine that fills the cup of silence. Nietzsche said life without music would be a mistake. Music surrounds us. It may be music we wouldn’t choose to listen to, like the music in grocery stores, or while we’re on hold on the phone. Or it may be music we seek out, whether from live performances, or from a num-ber of different electronic sources.This issue of the OLA Quarterly is about creativity. In this article, I’ll take an informal look at how Oregon library employees use the creativ-ity of others—music—while they’re going about their daily duties.I spend a good deal of my time at work listening to music. It’s sometimes to block out office conversations when I need to concentrate, sometimes to block out the sound of the HVAC system, and sometimes to encourage me to work on a hard or dull project (“You can listen to Red Priest if you will work on this boring process doc-ument”). I’ve been listening to music at work long enough that I first used a Sony Walkman (yup, cassette tapes!). To gather information for this article, I posted the following questions on libs-or, the email discussion list for Oregon libraries: •	 Do	you	listen	to	music	at	work?•	 If	so,	on	what	device(s)?•	 What	kind(s)	of	music?•	 While	doing	what?•	 What	is	your	job	specialty	or	specialties?•	 Other	comments•	 May	I	quote	you	in	the	article? I didn’t know what to expect: 10 responses? Hundreds? I was happy to receive 40 responses from folks in a variety of Oregon libraries (and even an Oregon native now working in a library in Massachusetts).The answer to the first ques-tion was a resounding “Yes.” Only two people reported not listening to music at work: one be-cause her library doesn’t allow it, and one because of IT issues. Of course, it’s quite likely that those who do listen to music at work were more likely by Jey WannOregon Documents Coordinator, Oregon State Libraryjey.a.wann@state.or.usI’ve spent my career at the Oregon State Library in a variety of roles: working in acquisitions, reference, circulation, and with Oregon docu-ments. I’ve been active in OLA, most recently on the 2014 Conference Committee. I have a BA in music and communications from Linfield Col-lege. In my spare time, among other things, I perform in two early music groups. 16to answer than those who don’t. I had a pre-conceived idea of what the response would be when I posted the questions. What library specialty, I mused, requires the most attention to detail, and tends to take place away from public areas, where interruptions aren’t com-mon. Why, cataloging, of course! However, only three of those who answered the questions are catalogers. If I use the responses to construct the library person most likely to listen to music at work in Oregon, it would be a public library director of supervisor who listens to classical music on his or her computer.Here’s a closer look at what people listen to, and how they listen to it.Put Another Nickel InAs with most of the responses, people listen to music on a variety of devices, and many respon-dents use more than one. Computers were the most popular (26), followed by phones (12). Other devices included MP3 players, Kindles, tablets, and CD players. Pandora is definitely popular with Oregon library folks. Jay Hadley (Multnomah County Library supervisor) says, “I love how I can hit ‘thumbs up’ on Pandora and hear more music like the track that is playing, or hit ‘thumbs down’ and never hear that track again. For free music it has a good degree of control.” Other sources for music included Spotify, Grooveshark, and various radio stations.Not all of the responses were totally serious. One respondent reported that he uses a picnic-style crank turn table to listen to Black Sabbath at 78 rpm while doing statistcs.Wagner’s Music is Better Than It Sounds—Mark TwainActually, no one mentioned Wagner, but they listed practically everything else! Many people said their tastes are eclectic and varied. Most people listed more than one type of music. As I mentioned above, classical music was mentioned most often. For some, that was generic category, although others were more specific. Mari Bettineski (Warner Pacific Tech Ser-vices Specialist) listens to Satie while cataloging. Elaine Goff (Willamette University Serials Specialist) listens to a variety of classical composers “… as long as it’s not too intense or emotional like Elgar tends to be.” Other mentioned classical as being soothing; see sidebar for my comments on that.The range of music people mentioned was very broad. Ethnic and world music are popular, as is jazz, all variations of rock, new age, blue grass, blues, punk, dance, and house. The only piece of music to be specifically mentioned more than once was the soundtrack to The Lord of the Rings. Almost every respondent listed more than one kind of music.A few people said they have to be careful with vocal music, since the words can be distracting when they’re working. Jessica Rondema (State Library Executive Assistant) likes Arabic music “… because it is upbeat, but the words don’t distract me, since I don’t speak the language!” Joni Roberts (Willamette University Public Services Librarian) says “I mostly listen to instrumental music because if the music has words, I will be tempted to sing along!”Some people listen to things other than music. A few people mentioned nature sounds as being relaxing. Other non-music mentioned includes white noise, BBC radio news, local police scanner, TED talks, and an actual water fountain. Amy Mihelich (WCCLS Cata-loger) says “I’ve found that listening to stand-up comedy is a good way to get out of the post-lunch doldrums.”Jey’s suggestions  for non-soothing classical music: Late Beethoven string quartets, especially the Grosse Fugue. If you can listen to them without feeling stressed, please check your pulse.   Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra. If you can listen to the last movement without laughing out loud, you may need to re-boot your sense of humor. Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez. Lively Spanish music with a definite urban feel.Anything by Gesualdo. Definitely the weirdest of the Renaissance composers. Chromatic, sometimes depressing, and rarely, if ever, soothing. Do not listen to if you are already feeling low.O R E G O N  L I B R A R Y  A S S O C I A T I O N 17Play It [bleeping] Loud—BoB DylanMany respondents mentioned that they always use headphone or earbuds, or are very careful not to play their music loudly enough to annoy their co-workers or library patrons. Christy Davis (Klamath County Library Directory) only listens to music after other staff have gone home. “I don’t wear headphones,” she says. “I’d have to take them out and put them back in a hundred times during the day—and I’d look unavailable.”There are some interesting exceptions to the keep-it-quiet rule, however.John Repplinger (Willamette University Reference Librarian) has external office hours at Willamette’s departmental student hearths. “I sometimes use music as a conversation starter with students,” he says. “Once we’re talking, I sometimes ask what they’re working on and see if there’s an “in” to help with their research. Plus, it is kind of neat to hear stu-dents’ music selection and actually recognize the songs!”Bob Jones (Milton-Freewater Library Director) has an even more out-going use for music at the library. Oldies Night @ the Library started 2006 to bring in people who would not normally visit. Bob has taken the program outside of Milton-Freewater: “Through Libraries of Eastern Oregon I have taken Oldies Night to a dozen other libraries in the state. In 2012 I gave a presentation on Oldies Night at Big Talk from Small Libraries, an online conference sponsored by the Nebraska Library Commission.” Directors of small libraries frequently wear many hats; Bob’s includes being a disk jockey.At the State Library, the Talking Books and Braille Services Division uses music to add energy to the workplace. On occasional slow Friday afternoons, they have Journey Friday; they use Pandora to play 1980’s bands. In addition to Journey, “Working for the Weekend” by Loverboy, and “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N Roses are staff favorites. Joel Hen-derson (Talking Books Administrative Program Coordinator) says “it sparks conversations, promotes team bonding, and helps get you through those last few hours before you head home.” And there may be air guitar or drumming involved. (There must be something about 1980s pop music and Fridays: Mari Bettineski reports that it frequently turns up on her Friday afternoon play list).Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production  deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid. —Frank ZappaWe’ve seen, informally, how Oregon library staff use music in a variety of ways in the workplace, especially to help them be more efficient and focused. What came through most strongly for me is how much people love the music they listen to, and how important it is to their lives. Bonnie Brzozowski (Corvallis/Benton County Library Reference Librarian) said “I would be lost without music at work. If I’m ever grumpy and counting down the hours until I get to head home, I put on a favorite tune and it boosts my energy and motivation.”Julie Wickham put it best: “Music and books make my life worth living!”Many thanks to all the people who responded to the libs-or post; I’m sorry there  was not room to include all the comments and playlists!Some of Jey’s faves you may not be  familiar with:Anything by Red Priest, a British baroque ensemble with a big attitude. Try Red Priest’s Vivaldi to see what they do to the very familiar “Four Seasons.” My favorite is their version of the La Folio Variations on Nightmare in Venice.The Oregon Guitar Quartet. Innovative arrangements, from the classics to classic rock.  Among my favorites are “Saint James Infirmary” and the world’s best arrangement of “Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair,” both on Something Wondrous Fair.Bach cello suites. Go beyond Yoyo Ma and check out recordings by Hekun Wu or Angela East. Wood N Flutes. Difficult to find, but worth searching for: Journey; an eclectic mix of music from the middle ages to modern, played on low-voiced recorders.  V o l  2 0  N o  2  •  S u m m e r  2 0 1 4

English

CommonKnowledge

Volume 20 , Number 2 Outside the Lines: Creativity in Libraries | Pages 15 - 17
August 2014
Without Music, Life Would Be a Mistake: What
Oregon Library Employees Listen to at Work
Jey Wann
Oregon Documents Coordinator, Oregon State Library
Follow this and additional works at: http://commons.pacificu.edu/olaq
Part of the Library and Information Science Commons
© 2014 by the author(s).
OLA Quarterly is an official publication of the Oregon Library Association | ISSN 1093-7374 | http://commons.pacificu.edu/olaq
Wann, J. (2014). Without Music, Life Would Be a Mistake: What Oregon Library Employees Listen to at Work. OLA Quarterly, 20(2),
15-17. http://dx.doi.org/10.7710/1093-7374.1759
 15
Without Music, Life Would Be a Mistake: 
What Oregon Library Employees Listen to at Work
Music has been called many things: the food 
of love, the universal language of mankind, the 
highest of the fine arts, the wine that fills the 
cup of silence. Nietzsche said life without music 
would be a mistake. Music surrounds us. It may 
be music we wouldn’t choose to listen to, like the 
music in grocery stores, or while we’re on hold 
on the phone. Or it may be music we seek out, 
whether from live performances, or from a num-
ber of different electronic sources.
This issue of the OLA Quarterly is about 
creativity. In this article, I’ll take an informal look 
at how Oregon library employees use the creativ-
ity of others—music—while they’re going about 
their daily duties.
I spend a good deal of my time at work 
listening to music. It’s sometimes to block out 
office conversations when I need to concentrate, 
sometimes to block out the sound of the HVAC 
system, and sometimes to encourage me to work 
on a hard or dull project (“You can listen to Red 
Priest if you will work on this boring process doc-
ument”). I’ve been listening to music at work long 
enough that I first used a Sony Walkman (yup, 
cassette tapes!). To gather information for this 
article, I posted the following questions on libs-or, 
the email discussion list for Oregon libraries: 
•	 Do	you	listen	to	music	at	work?
•	 If	so,	on	what	device(s)?
•	 What	kind(s)	of	music?
•	 While	doing	what?
•	 What	is	your	job	specialty	or	specialties?
•	 Other	comments
•	 May	I	quote	you	in	the	article? 
I didn’t know what to expect: 10 responses? 
Hundreds? I was happy to receive 40 responses 
from folks in a variety of Oregon libraries (and 
even an Oregon native now working in a library 
in Massachusetts).The answer to the first ques-
tion was a resounding “Yes.” Only two people 
reported not listening to music at work: one be-
cause her library doesn’t allow it, and one because 
of IT issues. Of course, it’s quite likely that those 
who do listen to music at work were more likely 
by Jey Wann
Oregon Documents Coordinator, 
Oregon State Library
jey.a.wann@state.or.us
I’ve spent my career at the Oregon 
State Library in a variety of roles: 
working in acquisitions, reference, 
circulation, and with Oregon docu-
ments. I’ve been active in OLA, most 
recently on the 2014 Conference 
Committee. I have a BA in music and 
communications from Linfield Col-
lege. In my spare time, among other 
things, I perform in two early music 
groups.
 16
to answer than those who don’t. I had a pre-conceived idea of what the response would be 
when I posted the questions. What library specialty, I mused, requires the most attention 
to detail, and tends to take place away from public areas, where interruptions aren’t com-
mon. Why, cataloging, of course! However, only three of those who answered the questions 
are catalogers. If I use the responses to construct the library person most likely to listen to 
music at work in Oregon, it would be a public library director of supervisor who listens to 
classical music on his or her computer.
Here’s a closer look at what people listen to, and how they listen to it.
Put Another Nickel In
As with most of the responses, people listen to music on a variety of devices, and many respon-
dents use more than one. Computers were the most popular (26), followed by phones (12). 
Other devices included MP3 players, Kindles, tablets, and CD players. Pandora is definitely 
popular with Oregon library folks. Jay Hadley (Multnomah County Library supervisor) says, “I 
love how I can hit ‘thumbs up’ on Pandora and hear more music like the track that is playing, 
or hit ‘thumbs down’ and never hear that track again. For free music it has a good degree of 
control.” Other sources for music included Spotify, Grooveshark, and various radio stations.
Not all of the responses were totally serious. One respondent reported that he uses a 
picnic-style crank turn table to listen to Black Sabbath at 78 rpm while doing statistcs.
Wagner’s Music is Better Than It Sounds
—Mark Twain
Actually, no one mentioned Wagner, but they listed practically everything else! Many people 
said their tastes are eclectic and varied. Most people listed more than one type of music. As 
I mentioned above, classical music was mentioned most often. For some, that was generic 
category, although others were more specific. Mari Bettineski (Warner Pacific Tech Ser-
vices Specialist) listens to Satie while cataloging. Elaine Goff (Willamette University Serials 
Specialist) listens to a variety of classical composers “… as long as it’s not too intense or 
emotional like Elgar tends to be.” Other mentioned classical as being soothing; see sidebar 
for my comments on that.
The range of music people mentioned was very broad. Ethnic and world music are 
popular, as is jazz, all variations of rock, new age, blue grass, blues, punk, dance, and house. 
The only piece of music to be specifically mentioned more than once was the soundtrack to 
The Lord of the Rings. Almost every respondent listed more than one kind of music.
A few people said they have to be careful with vocal music, since the words can be 
distracting when they’re working. Jessica Rondema (State Library Executive Assistant) likes 
Arabic music “… because it is upbeat, but the words don’t distract me, since I don’t speak 
the language!” Joni Roberts (Willamette University Public Services Librarian) says “I mostly 
listen to instrumental music because if the music has words, I will be tempted to sing along!”
Some people listen to things other than music. A few people mentioned nature sounds 
as being relaxing. Other non-music mentioned includes white noise, BBC radio news, local 
police scanner, TED talks, and an actual water fountain. Amy Mihelich (WCCLS Cata-
loger) says “I’ve found that listening to stand-up comedy is a good way to get out of the 
post-lunch doldrums.”
Jey’s suggestions  
for non-soothing 
classical music:
 
Late Beethoven string 
quartets, especially the 
Grosse Fugue. If you can 
listen to them without 
feeling stressed, please 
check your pulse.  
 
Bartok’s Concerto for 
Orchestra. If you can listen 
to the last movement 
without laughing out loud, 
you may need to re-boot 
your sense of humor. 
Rodrigo’s Concierto de 
Aranjuez. Lively Spanish 
music with a definite 
urban feel.
Anything by Gesualdo. 
Definitely the weirdest 
of the Renaissance 
composers. Chromatic, 
sometimes depressing, and 
rarely, if ever, soothing. 
Do not listen to if you are 
already feeling low.
O R E G O N  L I B R A R Y  A S S O C I A T I O N
 17
Play It [bleeping] Loud
—BoB Dylan
Many respondents mentioned that they always use headphone or earbuds, or are very 
careful not to play their music loudly enough to annoy their co-workers or library patrons. 
Christy Davis (Klamath County Library Directory) only listens to music after other staff 
have gone home. “I don’t wear headphones,” she says. “I’d have to take them out and put 
them back in a hundred times during the day—and I’d look unavailable.”
There are some interesting exceptions to the keep-it-quiet rule, however.
John Repplinger (Willamette University Reference Librarian) has external office hours 
at Willamette’s departmental student hearths. “I sometimes use music as a conversation 
starter with students,” he says. “Once we’re talking, I sometimes ask what they’re working 
on and see if there’s an “in” to help with their research. Plus, it is kind of neat to hear stu-
dents’ music selection and actually recognize the songs!”
Bob Jones (Milton-Freewater Library Director) has an even more out-going use for 
music at the library. Oldies Night @ the Library started 2006 to bring in people who would 
not normally visit. Bob has taken the program outside of Milton-Freewater: “Through 
Libraries of Eastern Oregon I have taken Oldies Night to a dozen other libraries in the state. 
In 2012 I gave a presentation on Oldies Night at Big Talk from Small Libraries, an online 
conference sponsored by the Nebraska Library Commission.” Directors of small libraries 
frequently wear many hats; Bob’s includes being a disk jockey.
At the State Library, the Talking Books and Braille Services Division uses music to add 
energy to the workplace. On occasional slow Friday afternoons, they have Journey Friday; 
they use Pandora to play 1980’s bands. In addition to Journey, “Working for the Weekend” 
by Loverboy, and “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N Roses are staff favorites. Joel Hen-
derson (Talking Books Administrative Program Coordinator) says “it sparks conversations, 
promotes team bonding, and helps get you through those last few hours before you head 
home.” And there may be air guitar or drumming involved. (There must be something 
about 1980s pop music and Fridays: Mari Bettineski reports that it frequently turns up on 
her Friday afternoon play list).
Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production  
deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid.
 —Frank Zappa
We’ve seen, informally, how Oregon library staff use music in a variety of ways in the 
workplace, especially to help them be more efficient and focused. What came through most 
strongly for me is how much people love the music they listen to, and how important it is to 
their lives. Bonnie Brzozowski (Corvallis/Benton County Library Reference Librarian) said 
“I would be lost without music at work. If I’m ever grumpy and counting down the hours 
until I get to head home, I put on a favorite tune and it boosts my energy and motivation.”
Julie Wickham put it best: “Music and books make my life worth living!”
Many thanks to all the people who responded to the libs-or post; I’m sorry there  
was not room to include all the comments and playlists!
Some of Jey’s faves 
you may not be  
familiar with:
Anything by Red Priest, a 
British baroque ensemble 
with a big attitude. Try 
Red Priest’s Vivaldi to see 
what they do to the very 
familiar “Four Seasons.” 
My favorite is their version 
of the La Folio Variations 
on Nightmare in Venice.
The Oregon Guitar 
Quartet. Innovative 
arrangements, from the 
classics to classic rock.  
Among my favorites are 
“Saint James Infirmary” 
and the world’s best 
arrangement of “Black 
is the Color of My True 
Love’s Hair,” both on 
Something Wondrous Fair.
Bach cello suites. Go 
beyond Yoyo Ma and 
check out recordings by 
Hekun Wu or Angela East. 
Wood N Flutes. Difficult 
to find, but worth 
searching for: Journey; 
an eclectic mix of music 
from the middle ages to 
modern, played on low-
voiced recorders.
  V o l  2 0  N o  2  •  S u m m e r  2 0 1 4


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Without Music, Life Would Be a Mistake: What Oregon Library Employees Listen to at Work

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OJS at Oregondigital.org (Oregon State University / University of Oregon)

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