They own 200,000 of them, and are apparently digitizing them.

http://www.wbur.org/artery/2017/10/11/boston-library-vinyl-records

The Boston Public Library has thousands of vinyl records — about 200,000, to be exact.

Until recently, the records from the BPL’s Sound Archives Collections were sitting in the library basement, collecting dust rather than being listened to. But soon that’s all going to change.

The BPL is transferring the records from its sound collection to longtime partner the Internet Archive, a nonprofit digital library, so they can be cataloged and digitized for public access.

“This brings collections that we have had, makes them accessible to the public but also will preserve the original materials as well,” says David Leonard, the BPL’s president.

The Internet Archive houses millions of historical collections of varying formats, including books, movies and software. The BPL’s substantial collection that's being transferred to the Internet Archive is part of the archive's broader Great 78 Project, which aims to collect, catalog and digitize millions of vinyl records.

The BPL’s collection spans much of the 20th century, with genres ranging from opera to pop to jazz and even spoken word on 78's and 33 1/3's.

Although the library has partnered with the Internet Archive for years to digitize its books, this is the first time the effort has moved into sound.

Leonard says past efforts have focused mostly on acquiring materials to expand the BPL’s collection, rather than making them available to the public.

But what good are all these records if no one can listen to them?

“It’s not enough just to have it; we need to make it accessible in the widest way possible,” says BPL Chief of Collections Laura Irmscher.

Read the rest of the story and find samples at the link.