The Local Music Project at the Iowa City Public Library has more than doubled the number of albums in its collection.

The collection now includes 116 albums by area artists playing everything from electronica to children’s music and everything in between.

Built to encourage interest in local musicians, the Local Music Project represents the cream of local music over the last few decades, including such favorites as Big Wooden Radio, David Zollo, Dead Larry, Public Property, Scott Cochran and Flannel, High and Lonesome, Joe and Vicki Price and Ben Schmidt.

The project’s latest expansion has now more than doubled the original collection, with albums by a diverse group of acts, including Mother Blues, Kevin “B.F.” Burt, Tony Brown, Diplomats of Solid Sound, Patrick Hazell and the Possum Holler Boar Hogs.

The project, which launched in June 2012 with 58 albums, offers local digital content to library cardholders. By the end of 2012, more than 1,700 albums had been downloaded by library cardholders in the service area for this project.

The library deals directly with musicians, who lease it the rights to offer their music as part of the project. The leases cover local material, sometimes out of print, and even live shows. The goal is to create new fans who will go to a local show or purchase copies of more recent records.

To download music for free, you must have an Iowa City library card and live in Iowa City or rural Johnson County, Hills or University Heights. Download the music at Music.icpl.org