IAML International Association of Music Libraries

The Czech National Branch (CzNB-IAML) held the second annual Plenary Session on June 9, 1994 at the National Library in Prague. The agenda included reports on the branch's progress in 1993-94, the state of negotiations for lending sound recordings, and the activities of the various working groups in the branch.

Between the first and second plenary sessions, the branch's primary activity has been administrative, solving problems connected with the inception of the Czech Republic and organizing internal financial matters including the establishment of the office of CzNB-IAML treasurer. Zuzana Petrášková, Secretary of the branch, described three voluminous mailings to more than 100 music libraries which brought informative material to a much wider group than the actual membership of the branch.

Branch President Blanka Červinková reported on the meeting of the international IAML Board at the National Library in Prague in March 1994. A major concern was to solve the problem of helping libraries in the former socialist countries and how to promote mutual understanding and bilateral information sharing. On this occasion a working meeting of the IAML Committee and representatives of the Czech institutional members also took place.

Julius Hůlek, Past President, reported on the Bulletin of Czech Music Libraries (Bulletin českých hudebních knihoven) which will have wider than local significance. Publication has been delayed, but the first issue, comprising information from 1991 to 1994, will be published in the autumn of 1994. A directory of Czech and Slovak music libraries (Adresář českých a slovenských hudebních knihoven) is being prepared and will appear as one of the following issues of the Bulletin.

A major concern was the lending of sound recordings. Spurred by domestic initiative and encouraged by events at the Helsinki meeting in 1993, the branch has been concerned with solving this problem for several years. Negotiations including Czech IAML branch members, the Ministry of Culture, preservation organizations, the National Library in Prague, and the Union of Librarians and Information Workers (SKIP) resulted in a contract authorizing the loan of sound documents by those libraries that are members of SKIP. Non-members may not lend sound recordings, nor does the contract deal with inhouse lending.

The main business of the Plenary Session focused on reports of the working groups, among them: radio libraries Jana Jiráková), Automatic Information System AIS (Vít Roubíček), libraries in teaching institutions (Vlasta Benetková) , research libraries and museums (Kateřina Máyrová), and public libraries (Blanka Červinková). The IAML R-projects were represented by Jitka Ludvová (RILM), Zuzana Petrášková (RISM) , and Eva Paulová (RIdIM). This last group was formal1y established after fruitful preparatory activity.

The individual reports had much in common: links to political and social change since 1989, problems in extending intensive professional cooperative activity (one or two people often account for most of the activity in a working group), changes in names and housing of collections, staff reductions and working processes in music libraries. Stable activity is characteristic of the R-projects.

Of particular interest to many of the approximately fifty persons present were the introduction and use of computers. Here the group AIS is addressing various tasks and will organize regular instructive seminars. The conclusions of the working group on libraries in music teaching institutions promises to be enlightening as well, because they represent such an unusual variety of libraries. Their problems in establishing contacts and setting priorities for tasks are also shared by radio libraries, research, and public libraries. A guest from the Slovak National IAML Branch, President Emanuel Muntág, confirmed that the same concerns exist in that branch and reaffirmed the principle of cooperation between Czech and Slovak music libraries.

The participants in the Plenary Session also heard a report from Jitka Bajgarová on the Czech Music Council-IMC and agreed to consider the possibility of participation in the Czech Music Council.

Next year we look forward to less administrative work and more attention to professional concerns which we will report in the pages of Fontes.

]ulius Hůlek,
Past President CzNB-IAML

• More reports for 1994