DC has a distinct, vibrant music history. However it is not being collected and documented in any coordinated way. Moreover, many enthusiasts, individual collectors, and musicians remain passionate about their craft and still live locally. By spearheading an outreach and community-driven collecting initiative, we are activating a brand new collection for the city and building cache for the innovative services we want our customers to start expecting from their public library.

The Archive engaged the local music community during the project planning process by consulting with an advisory committee that included musicians, local label owners, documentary filmmakers, and collectors. The Library then developed programming to promote the project and further encourage community participation, including through library basement punk shows, film screenings/discussions, fundraisers in collaboration with Library Foundation and external organizations. Trained volunteers served as “Community Archivists” to assist with processing, digitizing and describing collections. The Library was also able to secure grant funding to develop a local music portal for multimedia, narrative content and digital collections. The Archive was a celebration of uniquely D.C. content with a connection to a national movement.

Since its launch, the Archive has built and preserved nearly 1,500 items in its collection to document DC punk music history. The traditional model of access to archival collection has been expanded by positioning the library as a place for local music discovery. Through this collaborative project, the Library has been able to strengthen ties with local music communities by documenting past movements and facilitating new creation. Additionally, more than 500 attended basement shows, nearly 125 joined the Punk Rock swap meet fundraiser and almost 30 volunteers served as citizen archivists.