There has been a lot of discussion about the shrinking shelf space alloted to books in Barnes and Noble stores.  Articles like Sherry D. Ficklin’s  “The (inevitable) death of Barnes & Noble” and The Digital Reader’s “B&N a Bookseller No Longer?” both bemoan the loss of space for books in the retailer’s stores. It seems pretty apparent that music, particularly vinyl, is a big part of the replacement plan.

Yesterday, Barnes and Noble has announced that they will be celebrating “Vinyl Day” on Saturday. November 21, 2015.  There will be special events in stores and online and you can get more information at www.bn.com/VinylDay. According to the retailer’s press release:

An entire day dedicated to vinyl records and music, Vinyl Day will take place at Barnes & Noble’s nearly 650 stores nationwide just four months after its first vinyl-themed promotion in July as part of the summer program “Get Pop-Cultured with Barnes & Noble.” Now, with Thanksgiving around the corner, the bookseller aims to break consumers out of their usual holiday shopping habits and encourage the “Art of Creative Gift-Giving.”

The chain is offering a selection of vinyl titles exclusive to B & N which includes artist like the Beatles, Tony Bennett, and even an anthology of music from the TV series “Mad Men.” Also featured are color vinyl editions by artists such as Dave Brubeck, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. And for the consummate collector, there will even be a limited number of Signed Edition LPs from artists Bad Company, Brian Wilson and others.

And, yes, they will have have Adele’s new release, “25,” available for Vinyl day, according to the press release.

As some of you may know, I also work in the music industry,  and there, the statistics are pretty clear:  Vinyl Generates More Revenue Than YouTube Music, VEVO, SoundCloud, and Free Spotify COMBINED. Looks like Barnes and Noble decided that this might be an area worth investing in….