At CMLE Headquarters we are fans of all types of libraries. Being a multi-library system, we know the value of the work that all libraries – regardless of focus – do for their communities. But even we are surprised by the breadth of information available in some libraries!

Check out this article from the ALA about wine libraries! Hands up – who wants to organize a CMLE trip to Napa and visit these libraries??

Preserving the Vintage Wine libraries showcase the stories, science, and ephemera behind one of history’s oldest indulgences

“To libraries, wine is so much more than a bunch of grapes. It’s about preserving and presenting a record of painstaking winemaking traditions and personal histories, the ephemera of labels and bottles, research that helps enologists understand wine on a molecular level, and manuscripts from viticulture experts who could easily detect the fluctuating terroir in each glass. As wine consumption in the US has grown steadily since the 1990s, according to the Wine Institute, so too it seems is the focus that academic and public libraries are putting on growing their collections of wine materials—whether in designated wine libraries or as part of an existing food and beverage archive.

One could expect that wine libraries are concentrated in California, the top-producing state, but wine collections and digital archives are also popping up in places like Indiana, New York, and Oregon. Institutions are providing for the information needs of wine enthusiasts of all stripes, and in doing so are reinventing and reinvigorating the meaning of the library in the digital age. American Libraries examines four such libraries that are meeting contemporary challenges while offering one-of-a-kind materials.”

(click here to go to the rest of the article!)