IAML Excellence Award Citations
Birmingham Music Library
Birmingham Music Library is a regional centre of excellence with MLA designated status for its extensive and rich special collections which include Bantock, the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival and Handel libretti collections. It offers a comprehensive service for the local community and is developing its client base for the future. The Library has an active policy of local engagement, providing advertising for local concerts and a programme encouraging local musicians to donate their CDs. Birmingham has also pioneered developments in support for people with severe learning disabilities. For the range of services and the sheer scale of operation it is among the best public music libraries in the country, giving constant attention both to the traditional services of lending and reference and to the breadth of its other activities.
British Library Document Supply Centre: Music Service
This service has a unique role in this country. By lending its music scores to other libraries rather than directly to the public, it enables users throughout the country to access printed music that in most cases would be impossible or impractical for them to see in any other way. Particular emphasis has been placed on items which are too expensive or specialized for other libraries to buy (e.g. collected editions and contemporary music) and acquiring one copy of as many British and foreign publications as possible. This commitment and contribution to serve the nation-wide music community has been developed on a continuous basis over 35 years. Most significantly, the catalogue of the collection is now available online, which has greatly improved access.
Bournemouth Library, JBM Camm Music Library
This is an impressive all-round music library service with unique archives (e.g. that of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra) and which serves as a focal point for the South West. Most noteworthy is the strategic thinking that has developed partnerships with universities and other organizations in the area, introduction to music for children by members of Bournemouth SO, digitization of its important musical archives as part of the HLF-funded Streets of Bournemouth project and a dance collection to be launched this year. The new building (2002) offers open access and on-site storage of its complete music stock. In addition to the specialist music staff, all newly recruited library assistants are required to have some knowledge of music (grade 5, tested at interview).
Cork City Libraries, Rory Gallagher Music Library
This library offers an interactive series of musical events: recitals, lectures, exhibitions and launches, and is very much in touch with the local community and aware of its needs. It is used by professionals, amateurs, young people and those with physical and learning disabilities on an on-going basis and has become an important meeting place for the musical community in Cork. The Library is developing its stock of archival material relevant to the area and is participating in a number of partnerships within Ireland. The panel felt Cork to be a good example of a service at the centre of its community, building on local connections and taking a full part in local festivals.
ExploreMusic, Gateshead Libraries
This service opened in 2004 and has embraced technology with energy, passion, enthusiasm and creativity, and aims to serve the entire community rather than just the younger generation. Its innovations include free training in music technology and legal music downloading, with up-to-date listings on the ExploreMusic website of other music services in the region. It supports schools programmes and has developed a partnership with the Newcastle 'Lit and Phil', which holds a complementary collection. The panel considered this an interesting example of a service with a strong focus on ICT to deliver services and with a training programme to support this.
Huddersfield University Library Services, Music library
The new library is a significant development that builds on a long tradition of excellence and now provides a well-thought out, suitable space for students and researchers. There is clear engagement with both academic staff and students by the subject specialist library staff, and several initiatives add to the experience of using the library, such as taster sessions for children. Now housed in the main library, the music service retains its distinct identity and is still called the Music Library, with a designated music librarian in charge. There are long opening hours — at times 24/7 (a benefit of siting the service within the main library), a wide variety of online journals, specialist research materials in university archives and a university repository for open access to research output.
Royal College of Music Library
This is an outstanding library particularly in terms of collections. It has encouraged the donation of manuscripts and special collections allowing it to develop a unique and rich holding of international importance and has been active in securing funding including some Ł600,000 in grants and for the 'restore-a-score' project, which has attracted wide support. The natural slant towards performance and performers has been successfully utilized to provide an important dimension to its overall service. While encouraging its student population to interact with its holdings, it also caters to the needs of researchers from outside and is actively engaged in inter-library co-operation. Ongoing cataloguing and resources for this area is impressive. Proms participation and the provision of small exhibitions are excellent add-ons.
Surrey Performing Arts Library
Originally a traditional county music and drama collection with little or no general public access, this library has transformed itself into a fully-integrated performing arts library with a regional reputation as a major source of performance materials. In so doing it has successfully defended and justified its existence and has managed to maintain an older stock now rare in public library collections. The Library is also home to the Vaughan Williams Collection, a valuable special collection of national importance. It enjoys good support from the local Surrey community and a strong Friends' group as well as throughout the country in its willing participation in the inter-library loan scheme. While it is only open for a limited period each week, its access arrangements are good and thought has been given to the needs of clients.
Trinity College Library, Dublin, music collections
This library contains the most extensive collection of research materials in Ireland, which are carefully maintained and appropriately updated. Music resources are spread across three Departments and include open access collections, early printed books and special collections such as the Ebenezer Prout Collection. Its manuscripts and archives feature important donations of works by twentieth-century Irish composers as well as early 16th-century items and Irish folk music. Ready access to the collections for 12 other educational institutions in Ireland via CONUL is provided and reciprocal access for reference study on a wider basis is provided through the Pathways to Learning programme. The music librarian is extremely committed to upholding the ethos of the library and has been a driving force behind the development of an extensive programme of cooperative work with other institutions.
Trinity College of Music, Jerwood Library of the Performing Arts
The library has grown and developed significantly in recent years, enjoying a role as the hub of the institution, beautifully integrated with its teaching. A user education service is provided along with staff development seminars, particularly to help the 275 freelance instrumental teachers, who can be hard to reach and are often unaware of the library's new resources but nevertheless reliant on the library to respond quickly to their needs. The library's staff is fully qualified and has specialist knowledge across a broad range of genres. There is no backlog in cataloguing, which is in itself impressive, and the library is open during term time for 53 hours per week. The panel agreed that this was an outstanding nomination for a library demonstrating good practice in all criteria and that it could be used as a model from which to draw ideas.
Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, EFDSS
This library is a long-established centre of excellence, holding a unique and rare collection of folk-music materials in a wide range of formats. Special collection catalogues are available online, as are the Roud Folk Song Index and the Broadside index, complementing six major manuscript collections also made available online through Heritage Lottery funding and Cecil Sharpe's diaries. The library has forged effective partnerships with relevant institutions and collections, including outreach activities at eleven local primary schools and websites for children and teachers. This library targets the needs of its users and continues to update its resources and widen accessibility to its collections. It is important from many points of view, not least in its preservation of the cultural history of these islands and promoting its holdings very effectively.
Westminster Music Library
This library is a valuable resource with impressive and relevant testimonials to its provision of a unique and important service. Its special collections are of national standing, rare in the public library arena, and include manuscripts by Bartók, Bax, Holst, Sorabji; letters from Elgar, Walton, Gershwin as well as press cuttings from 1920 to 1945 and pre-1800 books and printed music. Its knowledgeable staff has been commended in many surveys for its helpfulness and knowledge. Outreach activities include innovative workshops, visits to schools and work with members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In sum, Westminster provides one of the best music library services in the country.
