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GORDON DANIELS

Jim Olsen, president of Signature Sounds in Whately, holds two of the label's 83 titles, which he has donated to the local library.

WHATELY - When Tiffany Hilton began her new job as Whately librarian four months ago she faced a dilemma: The shelves of the town's S. White Dickinson Memorial Library had no music offerings. What's worse, it seemed to Hilton, a self-professed music lover, that she could do little about it. The library barely had enough money to cover the cost of materials this year - $8,000 - let alone buy CDs for a new music collection.

Fast forward to today.

S. White Dickinson Memorial Library arguably has one of the finest collections of local, folk and Americana music in the Pioneer Valley, without the town or the library spending a dime.

The change in the library's musical fortunes is due, in part, to Hilton's discovery that Jim Olsen, owner of the Whately-based record label Signature Sounds, also is a Whately resident.

"I am a fan of his radio show, which is called the Back Porch," Hilton said of Olsen's radio broadcast, which now airs Sunday mornings on WRSI in Northampton. "I felt like I've been spending Sunday afternoons with Jim Olsen for years."

Recalling how she got the idea to ask Olsen if the library could purchase a few of the label's CDs, Hilton said, "Once I learned he was a Whately resident, I thought, 'How cool would it be to have a Signature Sounds collection at the library.'"

In fact, what the library received was the entire Signature Sounds collection, some 83 CDs in total.

"Tiffany, the librarian, is a fan of the label and our music and one day asked if the library could purchase some of our CDs to have," Olsen said. "That got me to thinking. I thought it would be a really great idea to donate our collection to the library."

To celebrate Olsen's donation, the Friends of the Whately Library are hosting a concert Oct. 7 that will feature one of Signature Sounds' artists, Colrain resident and folk singer Erica Wheeler.

Giving back

For her part, Hilton was ecstatic to receive the donation.

"It was a little overwhelming. I felt really honored to receive it. I couldn't have purchased it all at once - it would have taken years to purchase a collection of this size," she said, estimating that the entire collection is worth approximately $2,000.

Now residents "can come use CDs and learn about new artists they didn't have access to before," Hilton added. Signature Sounds artists, while famous, are not the types of musicians who often receive frequent airtime on the radio, she explained.

For Olsen, donating the label's own music library to the public library was a way of giving something back to the community.

"It's a great library, we use it all the time. I use it, my kids use it quite a bit and Tiffany is doing a great job putting on all sorts of new programs," Olsen said. "It's really great to have an active library in the community."

The library's collection of Signature Sounds releases will also serve as a kind of archive for the record label, Olsen said.

One copy of each CD put out by the label in its 15 years of operation will be available at the library, Olsen said. Among the most recognized of Signature Sounds' artists whose music will be available is singer-songwriter Josh Ritter, Olsen said. Olsen listed Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, the Winterpills and Eilen Jewel as a few of the local bands whose music will now occupy the shelves of the Whately library.

Hilton noted that the music will not only be available to Whately residents, but also to Massachusetts residents from other towns, if they stop by and get a library card. Indeed, Hilton thinks the addition of Signature Sounds' releases to the library collection will only contribute to a unique music scene that has been growing in Whately in recent years.

"There's kind of this little underground thing going on right now with folk and Americana in Whately," Hilton said. That includes the annual summer music series Watermelon Wednesdays, which is held at the West Whately Chapel. Olsen is involved in that event as well, and Signature Sounds artists like Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem played there this summer.

Wheeler, who performs Oct. 7 at 7 p.m., has played with the Indigo Girls, Shawn Colvin and Greg Brown, and writes frequently about nature and environmental issues, Olsen said.

The concert is free and will take place on the hill behind the library, weather permitting.

"The sun will be setting right behind Erica if I can coordinate all that," said Hilton, laughing.