CDS are the latest medium to fall in the face of the ‘digital evolution’.

North Ayrshire Council has announced that it will no longer be buying new physical recordings as locals turn on to digital.

For a number of years, libraries have offered CDs which people could borrow and listen to.

However, with the continuing transition towards digital music, the number of CDs being borrowed has fallen sharply.

That means from this month onwards, North Ayrshire Libraries will no longer buy new CDs although older CDs will still be available – as well as the council’s own online music streaming service, Freegal.

Councillor Louise McPhater, Cabinet Member for Communities, said: “The way we listen to music has changed dramatically in recent years, particularly with the explosion in online music streaming services.

“Our libraries have to move with the times too so this change reflects how people access their favourite music.

“Although we will no longer buy CDs, we will still have a small collection of CDs in the library and it is still possible to request discs from other branches.

“Best of all, our library members can also access music through our free downloading and streaming service, Freegal, which gives you access to over 13 million songs.

“For absolutely no charge at all, users can stream five hours of music every day and download five music tracks, or two music videos every week.”

If you want to find out more about using Freegal pop into your local branch or visit www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/libraries/ for more details.