How Music can Save the Economy

Photo courtesy of http://www.four-thirty-three.net/

This week, as part of my 120 hours of cataloging, my cataloging supervisor gave me a 7 volume set that constituted the History of Music In San Francisco series, originally published from 1939-1942. The writing of these volumes was due in no small part to the efforts of the Works Progress Administration's "Federal Music Project." It was the goal of this project to document the musical history of the United States while putting its citizens to work and (hopefully) repairing the ailing economy. In addition, there were many orchestras across the country (including Buffalo) that had their start thanks to the WPA.


Was the project a success? Some say yes, some say no. However, it did have a significant impact on the world of music librarianship. In American Music Librarianship, Carol June Bradley detailed the collection development and cataloging processes at the New York Public Library ca1933. She writes "[Carleton Sprague Smith] worked to exploit the collections as he inherited them. The first two years he limited acquisitions to filling in the gaps revealed by inventories; he had the collections searched and bibliographic aids devised to provide maximum access to their specializations; and the utilized the 'emergency workers' and later WPA workers to put existing materials in optimum order while he organized his priorities." See, music librarians, always working for a cause.

Speaking of Miss Bradley, her memorial service will take place on Saturday the 22nd. I discover more and more every day how much of an impact she has had on my career, so I think it is (to quote Lincoln!) "all together fitting and proper" that I attend. Hell, I might even learn something, and from what I've heard about Miss Bradley, she would have preferred it that way.


Oh, and I have to just get this out there. I have the best supervisor ever. She and I had a great discussion today about some "issues." It's nice to be working in such an incredibly supportive environment. I've only ever had that once before, and it was in retail. Support in academia is new and refreshing for me.

Hitler Youth Music

Photo Courtesy of www.holocaustsurvivors.org

One of my responsibilities this summer has been to go through the however many thousands of scores donated to us by Ms. Muriel Wolf and Mr. Albert Steger, both influential musicians in the Buffalo area, and check for duplicates in our online system. Muriel was married once before to Anton Wolf, and as such she, Anton, and Albert accumulated a TON of stuff. The other librarians have been making trips to "Albert's House" to clean out the cartons and cartons of books, scores, posters, etc. Some of it is really interesting, like the "Photos for Art Students" book, which was chock full o'naked ladies, or the "How to Spot a Commie" (not the actual title) pamphlet, which I can only assume circulated during the Cold War.

Today I'm sitting at my desk and I come across a piece for two flutes (or "other melody instruments") by Beethoven. I could not find any sort of collective title on this piece, and I was getting a little frustrated when I noticed that there was a piece of white tape obscuring writing on the top of the piece. Holding the paper up to the light, I was astonished to see that it said "Musikblätter der Hitler=Jugend Nr. 594." On the back of the piece was information in German (my German is a little rusty), but it gave me this crazy sense of being incredibly connected to history. A search in OCLC revealed only 2 other holdings and very little else about this particular piece of music, and although the Library of Congress has a good collection of these pieces, they do not hold ours. This particular piece of history, as it turns out, is rare....very rare. And to think I was about to throw it away....

A Major Blow to Music Librarianship

I know I'm at work, and I could get in major trouble for this, but I feel like I need to put this out there. Carol June Bradley, noted Music Librarian and a founding director of the UB Music Library, has passed away. Now to me this does not hold as much weight as it does for my co-workers, but I'm still definitely feeling the impact. The air in the library has become heavy, as those who knew her try to process the news and deal with their grief. A notice has been sent out to the MLA listserv, and I'm sure it will be abuzz today with recollections from her students, colleagues and friends. Her presence will be felt in the UB Music Library forever.

All I know if Ms. Bradley is that she was a force to be reckoned with in the classroom, and in the library. Her research into the history of Music Librarianship gave us an identity and a position in the world. Her book American Music Librarianship is unprecedented, nor has it been matched by any publication since. Reading that book gave me a sense of purpose and a historical basis upon which I rest all of my knowledge of the field, and for that I will be eternally grateful to Ms. Carol June Bradley.

R.I.P. King of Pop

OK, I need to get this out there. It's not Music Library related at all, but the death of Michael Jackson has rocked me to the core for the past 2 days. I was never really a crazy Michael fan, at least not on the outside. My admiration for him was mostly held on the inside as I watched his life unravel throughout my youth. However, the idea that there will be no one as popular or as famous as him ever again is hard to grasp. He is irreplaceable, and I wonder if future generations will really fully understand his influence.

Summer Reading Time!!!

So my classes are done, and I (miraculously) have time to sit down and read a book - for fun! So far I'm blowing through them.

Books I Have Read:
Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope
Kate DiCamillo, The Tale of Despereaux
Dorothy Baden-Powell, Pimpernel Gold: How Norway Foiled the Nazis
Hanna Aasvik Helmersen, War and Innocence: A Young Girl's Life in Occupied Norway (1940-1945)
Robert Fisher, The Knight in Rusty Armor

What I am Reading Now:
Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father

Books I Would Like to Read:
(In no particular order)
Gosselin/Carson, Multiple Bles8ings (I know, I know, but I own it....)
Gunnar Sonsteby, Report from #24
Stephanie Meyer, Twilight (starting with the first, we'll see how far I get)
Elizabeth Kostova, The Historian (It's been on my reading list for a while, but now I own it)
Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure, The Soprano State
Curtis Sittenfeld, American Wife: A Novel (highly recommended by my friend Ellie)
Steve Lopez, The Soloist (Amazing movie, now I have to read the book)

I know that I have tons more to update on, namely MLA and Norway and what's happening in the Music Lib. this summer. I'll get there, I promise.

Because I can't concentrate at work right now...

I'm currently reading American Music Librarianship by Carol June Bradley (one of the founding librarians of the UB Music Library), and I have come across a few interesting librarian quotes:

"A librarian should not be a fossilized antiquarian, no matter how steadily his gaze may be fixed on 'history' of yesteryears; he should be alive with the trends of today and make ample room on his shelves for the 'new men,' whether or not they have 'arrived.' The librarian is essentially a registrar, not a critic. It remains for posterity to pass final judgement. And posterity must find a complete dossier, conscientiously assembled, not selected in accordance with personal taste or preference." ~Carl Engel (c.1925)

Aside from the constant use of "him/his/he" denoting that all librarians are/should be male, I think this notion has not changed all that much. And then there was this one:

"A librarian ought not to content himself with giving the public what it happens to want, but ought to help create a demand for what the public needs...no self-respecting library can afford to be without certain cultural documents...After all, it is not the frequency of use that counts, but the use to which a book is put." ~Oscar G.T. Sonneck

Well-stated, sir, well-stated.

L-I-B-R-A-R-Y

So I'm sitting watching the snow fall, checking in CDs from a 2004 antitrust settlement
. After I unwrap the CD, I have to write "UB Music Library" on each one, which has become stressful because I'm so afraid that I'm going to spell "Library" wrong by forgetting an r and spelling it L-I-B-A-R-Y or L-I-B-R-A-Y, thus completely destroying my credibility. Or maybe I'm the only one who will notice...