On-Line Learning - Boosting Circulation

As a selector of world music cds for purchase at the BPL, I am always seeking methods to encourage public interest in this genre. I see potential in a program like iTunesU. Upon a quick scan of their offerings in this area, I discovered lectures and podcasts not only on world music but culture and geography as well. If we could promote learning in these subject areas by making such resources available as downloads to our patrons, there is good reason to believe that exposure to such information would spark further interest in our recorded world music collection. As an added feature, I could see the inclusion of relevant playlists made-up of titles within our collection, complete with sound byte samples of each, linked in some way to a specfic lecture or podcast. Thus the listener's attention would be directed towards our collection of world music cds. We now offer OverDrive to our patrons, so why not add educational selections such as these to our audio database. Of course, this type of program could work with respect to other areas of our A-V collection as well.