(Image copied from Flier from the first DC Punk Archive
Library Basement Show at MLK Jr. Memorial Library October 2, 2014.)
You don’t usually think of loud music and spiked mohawks when you go to
your local library, but hiding in the basement of D.C. public library you’ll
find just that. The library started a punk
archive in 2014, collecting everything from fliers to videos in effort to
preserve the music history of the nation’s capital. Some of their flier
collection is digitized and available online.
They even host free shows in the library’s
basement.
Libraries may seem like an unlikely culprit for preserving an
underground music scene, but, hey, as Matt Connelly says in his Washington
Monthly article, “the library is far and away the most punk-rock branch of
local government.” We may not class as ‘hardcore,’
but we support our local communities and meticulously hoard resources for use
by future generations, so maybe we’re more comparable to punk rock’s silent, scheming
little sister.
Can’t make it to D.C.? Check out these books available in Langsdale’s
collection:
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