Libraries are typically known for their quietude.
But once a year, Suffolk Public Library gets loud after hours with its annual Shelf Bound Sound music festival. The free, all-ages event is Saturday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. at Suffolk’s Downtown branch.
It features a trio of acts: Norfolk electronic music DJ Karacell and alt blues-rock band No Agenda, and Virginia Beach psych-rock group Berries.
Organizer Maura Zurfluh brought the idea to her bosses at the library four years ago after talking about it with a coworker. They noticed an opening in the calendar for an event.
“It was basically a 'yes' right away,” she said.
Previously held at the North Suffolk Library, the show is moving to the newly opened, larger Downtown Suffolk Library.
For Zurfluh, the show is emblematic of the evolving ways libraries are serving communities nationwide. They’ve become hubs with makerspaces, sometimes noisy children’s sections and even podcast studios.
The community atmosphere makes the library well-suited to create a cozy vibe that helps people feel close to artists in a new way, Zurfluh believes.
“It feels like this kind of magic and special energy that is really hard to replicate anywhere else,” she said. “Some people are coming because they’re fans of who’s playing; some people are coming because they heard something was happening; some people think that the library is open for some reason at, like, 7 p.m. on a Saturday and they just kind of walk in.”
It’s a new experience for Chris Ledbury also. Ledbury is the frontman and leader of Berries, which is a play on his last name. He started making music under the moniker as a solo project in high school, but Berries has since become a family band. Ledbury plays alongside his brother, Johnny, and brothers Daniel, Jacob Gardner and Tyler Conner.
“We’re always down to play kind of different shows, like the Chrysler Glass Studio and stuff like that,” Ledbury said. The band played at the Hermitage Museum & Gardens Sunsets on the River series with alt-rock colleagues Perloid in late July.
Shelf Bound Sound creates an opportunity for Hampton Roads’ DIY music scene that Ledbury, at times, struggles to feel optimistic about.
The number of venues for indie and hardcore acts has shrunk. Charlie’s American Cafe went under in January 2020. Back Bay Beach House closed at the end of 2024. Smartmouth Brewing shut down its original location in Norfolk in December. The Taphouse Grill in Norfolk nearly called it quits this year, too.
“It is really cool that they’re doing that just to have another place for bands to play,” Ledbury said. “You think of a library, and you’re like, ‘Oh, you have to be quiet,’ but we’re allowed to just rock out and be loud.”
“I’m really excited about it.”
Zurfluh relishes the chance to get bands that gravitate around Norfolk and Virginia Beach to branch out to Suffolk.
“It’s easy for me to think that the artists are doing us a favor, but it’s really great to be part of this, like, symbiotic relationship with them and then with the community as well.
“When we’re able to create spaces for these communities to thrive, it really strengthens the entire city, the entire area.”
The festival will have stations for people to try out screen printing drink koozies and making guitar picks from old library cards. Food trucks will be on hand. Non-alcoholic pop-up mixologist Free Life will also be serving custom Shelf Bound Sound-themed mocktails.
“I promise it won’t distract you too much from the show,” Zurfluh said.
