Summer of Outdoor Music for Liverpool Public Library New York

Back in August 2017, Liverpool Public Library were very excited to be installing outdoor musical instruments in the library's Dino Garden. A year on, we've caught up with Laurel Sharp and Diane Towlson to see how the instruments have been received by members of the library community and how they are being used by the library itself.

Laurel Sharp, Youth Services Librarian at the Liverpool Public Library recounts “I first saw the outdoor musical instruments in downtown Syracuse, NY, and searched the article in the local paper about them. I stood and played them for quite a while one day and got myself a standing ovation when I was done! After a little online research, Percussion Play stood out to me as the best sounding instruments”.

After receiving an annual grant - funded by a bequest from the Richberg Fund - the team chose their outdoor musical instruments for both their durability and accessibility, looking particularly for instruments that sounded good together yet with different tonalities. “I visited 2 of the 3 sites in Syracuse when I was deciding on which instruments to get. Also, the (Percussion Play) website was very helpful in the amount of information it gave about each of the instruments and the videos were useful.”

After careful consideration, Laurel and Diane chose Tubular Bells, Babel Drum, Grand Marimba and Rainbow Cavatina with a durable outdoor Music Book .

Laurel and Diane chose to install outdoor musical instruments to encourage people to visit the library and to enjoy their outdoor space. Since the grand opening, the instruments have been used for weekly outdoor musical story sessions and have been very much part of the library’s summer program.

The Liverpool Public Library team hope that the instruments will continue to be so popular and encourage people of all ages to visit the library to make use of their facilities and resources.