The state of Kansas has become the proud owner of 600 copies of a compact disc with one song on it: Whitney Houston’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Kansas received the 600 CDs Tuesday evening in a batch of about 51,000 discs with 1,400 different titles.

Coming soon to a library near you.

The massive delivery was a result of a settlement with music distributors and retailers alleged to have illegally fixed prices for CDs, cassettes and vinyl records between 1995 and 2000.

The companies denied all allegations of wrongdoing but agreed to provide $67.38 million in cash and $75.7 million in music CDs to be distributed nationwide.

The value of Kansas’ haul is about $700,000, according to the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, which handled the case for the state.

The CDs will be sent to public libraries across the state.

“Since they just arrived, we’re still finalizing how they will be distributed,” said Toni Harrell, director of the talking book division of the Kansas State Library. “So, there’s no real timeline on when libraries will receive the CDs, but the sooner the better.”

Kansas has about 395 public libraries and branches. That means each could receive at least one copy of Houston belting out the national anthem.

Lawrence public library Music CD settlement information Web site Final judgment and order in case (.pdf)

“It’s not something we’ve been dying to get our hands on,” said Sherri Turner, Lawrence Public Library assistant director.

The 51,000 CDs were delivered to the Kansas State Library’s Emporia office. It took more than an hour for the truck driver to unload the 15 pallets holding the CDs, Harrell said.

While there are abundant copies of the Houston single, Harrell said there were about 30 copies of each of the other 1,400 titles, including classical and jazz, alternative, new age, country and R&B selections.

“I think that we are pleased with the variety,” Harrell said. “What’s been reported so far by other (states’) libraries has been an excess in certain titles or artists.”