Music Libraries in Teaching Institutions

Music Libraries in Teaching InstitutionsAuthor(s): SUSAN M. CLEGGSource: Fontes Artis Musicae, Vol. 25, No. 3 (1978 Juli-September), pp. 212-216Published by: International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres(IAML)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23505250 .

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212 Susan M. Clegg: Music Libraries in Teaching Institutions

Library (Glasgow); the remainder of this collection is in Leeds City Library. The Mit

chell Library also has some early treatises and the Moody-Manners collection of operas

(mainly of the 19th century). Edinburgh, Leeds and Liverpool Public Libraries all have collections of pre-1800 print

ed music, and Liverpool also has some 500 manuscripts, including Handel, Haydn and

Schubert autographs. Cardiff Public Library's 18th-century Mackworth Collection con

sists mainly of single-sheet songs, but also contains manuscripts of Italian operas and can

tatas. This library has a collection of Welsh music as well, while several Scottish public li

braries, notably Dundee and Aberdeen City, have Scottish music collections. Other libraries of interest include the English Folk Dance and Song Society's Vaughan

Williams Memorial Library of folk music, and the British Music Information Centre, con

taining ca. 10,000 contemporary British music scores. Some private libraries, such as

those at Chatsworth, Burghley House, Stoneleigh Abbey and Tatton Park (now National

Trust property) are known to have some music. Finally mention must be made of the col

lection in Bentley (Hampshire) of Gerald Coke, with Handel and related manuscripts.

Briève description de l'ampleur et du caractère des grandes collections de recherche musicale dans les bibliothèques britanniques (à l'exception des bibliothèques nationales qui sont discutées ailleurs). Ces institutions comprennent: universités, académies, écoles, cathédrales, bibliothèques publiques et

quelques rares bibliothèques particulières.

Über Größe und Art der umfangreicheren Sammlungen von musikalischem Forschungsmaterial in britischen Bibliotheken (mit Ausnahme der Nationalbibliotheken, die an anderer Stelle beschrieben sind) wird kurz berichtet. Es handelt sich um Universitäts-, College-, Schul-, Kathedral- öffentliche und einige private Bibliotheken.

SUSAN M. CLEGG (BIRMINGHAM)*

Music Libraries in Teaching Institutions

Within higher education in the United Kingdom there are three broad categories of music education: 1 ) Universities (not covered in this article); 2) traditional, well-estab lished Conservatories; and 3) Colleges of Education and other Schools of Music. Libraries of such institutions naturally reflect the differing courses. The following survey is based on replies received from a questionnaire sent in 1977 to all Conservatories and to selected libraries representative of other Music Schools and Colleges of Education

The author is Librarian at the Birmingham School of Music.



Susan M. Clegg: Music Libraries in Teaching Institutions 213

Conservatory Libraries

All of the Conservatory libraries have their origins in the 19th century. The first to be

established was the Royal Academy of Music (in 1822) and the most recent (in 1893) the

Royal Manchester College, which is now part of the Royal Northern College of Music,

opened in 1974. Inevitably, with such a long history, each of the libraries has developed

large, and, in some cases, unique music collections, often enriched by bequests from

eminent musicians.

Though traditionally thought of as institutions for the training of performers, all the

Conservatories have introduced graduate or graduate-equivalent courses of three or four

years duration, as well as their standard diploma courses. In addition, they all offer one or

two-year courses for postgraduates, advanced performers, or experienced teachers. Other

recent developments include the integration of the Birmingham School of Music into the

City of Birmingham Polytechnic, making this the only Polytechnic with a long-established

Conservatory. However, despite these more academic courses, the real emphasis in the

Conservatories is on performance. The 1977/78 enrolment at Conservatories is between

142 and 625 full-time students, and between 35 and 1,500 part-time students.

Conservatory libraries maintain and develop stocks to provide materials needed for in

dividual lessons, classes and performance. Generally, collections include practical, modern

editions as well as scholarly editions. Most of the libraries also include research and rare

books and music collections. Many special collections are housed in these libraries, in

cluding: The Henry Wood Orchestral Library at the Royal Academy of Music;The West

rup Library, the Appleby Collection of guitar music, the Harris Collection of 19th-cen

tury opera scores, the Harry Rosenczweig Collection of Jewish Music and related litera

ture, and the Bingham Collection of out-of-print play scripts, all at the Guildhall School of

Music and Drama; the Parry Room Library at the Royal College of Music; and various

important bequests of books and music to the Royal Northern College of Music, includ

ing those from Jascha Horenstein, Sir John Barbirolli and manuscripts by Alan Raws

thorne.

Music holdings include multiple copies of choral works and operas, and performing

parts of orchestral works. The size of these collections ranges from 20,000 to nearly

100,000, although most of them are around 40,000. In addition, all the libraries maintain

collections of books about music (and in some cases, drama) varying in size from 2,500 to

10,000 volumes. The Royal Academy of Music has a collection of about 300 manuscripts but in general manuscript collections in the Conservatories are smaller (under 100).

Recordings are an important part of most Conservatory libraries and are used by both students and staff for studying and teaching. Discs are still the primary type of recording,

although cassettes are increasing in importance in some of the libraries. The smallest col

lection of discs numbers 1300, the largest 7000. Some libraries also have collections of 78

rpm discs. Cassettes are not held by all the libraries, but where they are used, range in

number from 12 to 400. Small collections of reel-to-reel tapes are also held. Available

listening facilities (usually for use with headphones) are appropriate to the collection of

recordings. Since most Conservatories now run more academic courses often involving an ele

ment of research, collections of music in microform are being acquired. At present these

are still fairly small (between 3 and 30 items). The libraries also hold related hardware, and at the Royal Northern College of Music the library has its own reader-printer for ob

taining paper copies from microfilm or microfiche. In 1977/78 the libraries subscribed to

between 30 and 80 current journals, usually including some titles in foreign languages as

well as those in English. One of the libraries maintains a closed-access system for music and sound recordings

and another keeps all discs on closed access; all the others have open access collections,




generally confined to students and staff of the Conservatory for lending purposes, al

though three of the libraries do allow some lending to other people at the librarian's

discretion.

Classification in these libraries varies considerably, and there is often more than one

scheme in use. Two libraries use Library of Congress Classification, one uses McColvin &

Reeves and the Dewey Decimal Classification (DC), one uses DC and its own scheme, and

the remaining library has the majority of its stock classified by its own scheme, but is

using DC for current additions and the British Catalogue of Music Classification for the

arrangement of a classified catalogue. Methods of cataloguing vary as widely - some li

braries having card catalogues arranged by author, title, classified and subject sequences, others having lists by form or instrument, and others having computer-produced micro

form catalogues. All of the Conservatory libraries replying have professionally-qualified staff, most of

whom have a music degree and/or diploma. The number of assistants varies from as few as

two part-time clerical to as many as six full time, and many of the staff are practising musicians. Each of the Conservatories has its own salary and grading structure. In all li

braries the librarian is responsible to the Principal, except in Birmingham, where the li

brarian is responsible to the Polytechnic Librarian. One librarian teaches music biblio

graphy to students, and most run tutorial programmes for new students. One librarian is

on both the IAML (U.K.) Committee and the IAML Commission on Music Schools, and

two librarians have written articles or reviews.

New developments in media and in the training of musicians in recent years have led to

an increased complexity in library holdings, and a proportionately more demanding task

for the music librarian. Students need and demand more services and longer hours, and

these libraries are open five or six days per week in term time, for between 8 Vi and 11

hours per day. Most of them also receive frequent enquiries by post and telephone from

members of the public. Formerly, the Conservatory libraries tended to exist in individual

vacuums, but it has been heartening to see a move away from this towards a greater de

gree of co-operation, both among these libraries and within the national lending schemes. The Birmingham, Guildhall and Manchester libraries all belong to the British Library

Lending scheme; the Royal Scottish Academy belongs to the National Library of Scot land Library Service; Birmingham and the Guildhall Library participate in BLCMP (Bir

mingham Libraries Co-operative Mechanisation Project) for co-operative computerised cataloguing; and most of the libraries have developed co-operation with local public and

university libraries, as well as with local choral societies and orchestras. Such develop ments, together with the appointment of professional staff, new buildings for three of the

libraries, the possibility of new buildings for others, and the increased financial alloca tions (ranging from £ 5,500 to over £ 13,000 in 1977), augur well for the future of such libraries in the United Kingdom.

Libraries in other Schools and Colleges Offering Music Education

There are a number of Colleges and Schools (e. g., the Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Huddersfield Polytechnic School of Music) which run courses both for

performers and for the training of teachers. Such institutions are included with the form er 'Teacher Training Colleges', which are unashamedly vocational in their aim of produc ing teachers for primary and secondary schools. These Colleges have undergone several

changes in the past few years, first becoming Colleges of Education and then many of them being merged into Universities or Polytechnics. In such Colleges music is usually only one of many Departments, whereas in the Conservatories, music (sometimes with

drama) is the only subject taught. The questionnaire sent out asked only for details of music departments and collections. In many cases the music library has remained a sepa



Susan M. Clegg: Music Libraries in Teaching Institutions 215

rate entity, while in others it is a collection in the main library. Many different courses, both practical and academic, involving music are offered by these Colleges, including:

diplomas, graduate-equivalent, B. Ed., B. Hons. Mus., M. A. Mus. Ed., M. Phil, and B. A.

(Performing Arts) courses, all of three of four years duration. Some degree courses are

run by Universities, others by the Council for National Academic Awards (C.N.A.A.). As

the primary function of many of these Colleges is to train teachers, their library stocks

are somewhat different from those of the Conservatories. For example, they need to have

materials for use in teaching practice in schools, and their collections may include rather

more books on music education and teaching than do the Conservatories, while their col

lections of scores are generally smaller. Many Conservatory students continue to one of

these Colleges to do a one-year Postgraduate Certificate of Education or Dip. Ed. to qual

ify as a music teacher.

The number of full-time music students in these Colleges varies from 72 to 240 in

1977/78 and some also take part-time students. 60% of the libraries replying have sepa rate music libraries with professionally qualified staff; one is run by an experienced musi

cian and one by a clerical assistant, though in the latter case it was stressed that the ap

pointment of a qualified music librarian was being considered as a matter of urgency. Two of the Colleges have no separate music library. The music librarian is usually respon sible to the chief librarian of the institution, though three of them are responsible to the

Head of Music. Nearly all of the libraries have some practising musicians on their staff.

Where the music library is separate the number of staff ranges from one to four (general

ly fewer than the Conservatories), yet the opening hours in term time are generally longer,

averaging 12 hours per day. One also opens for five hours on Saturdays and Sundays. These longer hours reflect, perhaps, the more academic nature of the courses in these Col

leges. All the collections are open access, except, occasionally, for audio-visual materials, and are only available to the public for reference.

The size of stock is generally smaller and less specialised than in the Conservatory li

braries. Book stocks vary from 800 to 3300 volumes, while music stocks range from

1000 to 23,000 items (although only two of the libraries have collections of more than

10,000 items). The average disc collection totals 2500, with cassette and tape collections

averaging 300 items. Few of these libraries have any manuscripts or microforms of music.

Music journals range from 9 to 30 titles.

Special collections exist in four of the libraries: A Welsh Music and Drama Collection

at the Welsh College of Music and Drama; an extensive collection of 20th-century music

at Huddersfield Polytechnic;theAccademiaMonteverdiana on permanent loan from Denis

Stevens to Kingston Polytechnic; collections of folk and ethnic music and of special edu

cation at Dartington College of Arts.

Financial allocations for music stocks vary quite widely, from as low as £ 1,000 to as

high as £ 9,500 in 1977/78. In some cases Music Department funds are also used for the

purchase and hire of music. The majority of libraries belongs to the British Library Lend

ing scheme and also borrow from local public libraries. In some cases, such as Birmingham

Polytechnic's Department of Education, the College library also borrows from the School

of Music and the University music libraries, while Dartington has special arrangements with Plymouth Polytechnic.

Classification is generally by DC, though home-made schemes are also in use for parts of some stocks. Two of the libraries are members of BLCMP and the remainder have card

catalogues arranged either by type of music, or more usually by author, title, classified

and subject sequences. In addition to these Colleges and Conservatories there exist a number of other Colleges

and Schools which do not fall conveniently into either of the categories mentioned.

Specialist Colleges such as the London Opera Centre, have libraries, often run by clerical




staff of the College. The City of Leeds College of Music runs a unique Diploma course in

Light Music, in addition to a foundation course and an external diploma course. Its li

brary has 1,500 books, 13,450 scores and 3,300 recordings, and a special collection of

jazz records, called the "Chantier Collection".

There are also some Colleges (e. g., the Salford Music Centre, the South-East Derby shire Technical College and the Coventry School of Music) which offer two or three

year 'A' level and foundation courses for students aged 16 or over. Students of such Col

leges will often proceed to courses at the Conservatories and Colleges of Education. The

libraries in these Colleges often have useful collections of music.

From the above it can be seen that music education in the United Kindom takes many different forms. Music libraries in such institutions have to provide materials for many different courses, both practical and academic, and demands on library resources are ever

increasing.

*

A list of Universities, Colleges and Conservatories which offer music courses (together with their ad dresses) appears in the Music Education Handbook: a Directory of Music Education in Britain, ed. Arthur Jacobs, Brian Trowell, Gordon Reynolds (London - New York: Bowker, 1976).

List of Libraries Replying to the 1977 Questionnaire

Conservatories

Birmingham School of Music Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London

Royal Academy of Music, London

Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester

Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow

Other Schools and Colleges

City of Birmingham Polytechnic, Centre for Teacher Training and Education, Edgbaston Bretton Hall, Wakefield Colchester Institute of Higher Education, Stephens Music Library Dartington College of Arts, Totnes Huddersfield Polytechnic Kingston Polytechnic City of Leeds College of Music Middlesex Polytechnic Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff.

Les bibliothèques faisant partie d'institutions d'enseignement se divisent en deux grandes catégories: 1) celles des Conservatoires, et 2) celles des autres écoles d'éducation, dont le soin primaire est l'instruc tion de professeurs plutôt que d'interprètes. Les bibliothèques de la 2^me catégorie sont très différen tes les unes des autres en ci qui concerne équipement et personnel, dépendant des besoins spécifiques de leurs cours; généralement leurs collections sont plus petites et moins spécialisées que celles de la [ère catégorie. Les noms des institutions ayant répondu au questionnaire de 1977 sont ajoutés.

*

Die Bibliotheken der Lerhrinstitute unterteilen sich in zwei große Kategorien: 1) die der Konserva torien und 2) die der anderen Schulen, deren wichtigste Aufgabe es ist, Lehrkräfte auszubilden und nicht so sehr Interpreten. Die Bibliotheken der zweiten Kategorie sind untereinander sehr verschieden, was die personnelle Besetzung und die Ausstattung betrifft; das hängt ab von den spezifischen Notwen digkeiten ihrer Kurse. Im allgemeinen sind ihre Sammlungen weniger speziell als die der ersten Kate gorie. Die Namen der Institute, die auf den 1977 versandten Fragebogen geantwortet haben, sind ange fügt.



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Music Libraries in Teaching Institutions