End for Solothurn music library

Changing listening and usage habits have led to an increasing shift from physical to digital music consumption with downloading and streaming among library users. According to the canton's statement, the use of the music library in the recent past was still around a quarter of its best use (2005: 99,388 loans, 2019 with slightly different recording: 22,632).

This prompted the ZBS Board of Trustees to review the continuation of the music library. The increasing shift in costs to the IT sector and library network solutions also resulted in a drastic reduction in the media credit: at CHF 180,000, this is currently far (52.1 percent) below the long-term average media expenditure of around CHF 376,000. Against this background, the Board of Trustees decided to close the music library at the end of May. Only musical works created in the canton, on cantonal themes or by Solothurn artists will continue to be collected as so-called Solodorensia as part of the cantonal collection mandate.

The closure also has consequences for the staff: two people are losing their jobs (each with a workload of 20 percent). Continued employment at the ZBS is not possible, but solutions are being sought.