Library Takeout

The 2020 fall semester is different, so Duke University Library wanted something catchy to explain to students how to get the library materials they need. Luckily, they had a music composer on staff, librarian Jamie Keesecker, who was working from home while caring for his three-year-old daughter. He started writing music as a teenager.

And he kept writing music, for more than 17 years. He got a master’s in music composition from Duke in 2011 and a doctorate in 2016, but worried constantly about his career. He realized he would make a better hobbyist composer than professional.

Keesecker began work at the library, where his work felt refreshingly regular. He didn’t need to invent things from scratch.

But this project he started completely from scratch, and ended up with a cute hand-drawn animation and an earworm song that is now available on Spotify and Apple Music. (via reddit)