Who’d be a music librarian?
OrchestrasThe world’s busiest music librarians are gathering at Berlin’s Philharmonie this weekend to share their frets and woes.
Among the conference subjects:
– Pedals, Pitches, and Pixels: An Introduction to Harp Notation
– Bowings for Non-Strings Players
– Part Quality, Legibility, What Disturbs a Musician on Stage
and, of course:
– Find Your Balance: Self-Care and Mental Health for Music Librarians
I have the fondest memories of Malcolm Smith, the hire librarian for many years at Boosey & Hawkes. He was a huge help when I managed an orchestra and conversation with him was always a joy.
This seems to be about orchestra librarians. Music librarianship is something different.
Agreed, says this orchestra librarian.
I came here to say the same thing!
Exactly
Orchestra librarian, not music librarian. Also, the title is clickbait, per usual, and the phrase “frets and woes” implies the conference is for complaining rather than learning and sharing ideas.
Well, to be fair, the subjects listed are the stuff frets and woes are made of.
It’s a little of bot tbh lol
To be precise, this is the 41st Annual MOLA Conference (MOLA – Major Orchestra Librarians’ Association), so not all music librarians per se.
Being an orchestral or hire librarian can be very stressful and a bit of a thankless job (I’m speaking from my experience as a hire librarian). It’s good to see that there will be a segment on mental health and the associated stress. Although I’m not saying it’s as severe as some other jobs, i.e. working in A&E, the little stresses do pile up and the fact that no one recognises the efforts we do (i.e. editors and promo departments get all the praise, not to mention the composer/musicians, of course). We tend to be a little bit forgotten! To be fair, when I was growing up I didn’t even know my job existed, so I’m not blaming anybody too much! But we do exist, haha.
Everything that has been written about the Conference being for orchestral librarians is of course perfectly true. When I was interacting with Malcolm Smith in the 1970s and 80s I managed a young orchestra which, like many in those days, did not have the extensive library facilities enjoyed by most full-time orchestras in 2023. To us he was frequently of very considerable assistance as I am sure he was to many others. I wish this year’s Conference every success.
I worked at the ASU Music Library while going to grad school in Tempe. One of my favorite jobs and I really got to know the Library of Congress cataloging system.