Muusikaosakond 40!

Abstract

Music Department 40

In 2023, forty years passed since the foundation of the Music Department of the UT Library. When the renovation of the library building was finished in 2018, the Music Department got new premises, which made it possible to place records, sheet music, books and magazines on open shelves for everyone to discover. The newly bought digital piano quickly became popular. Tartu Folk Club’s monthly gatherings and program recordings found a home in our new seminar room.

For decades, the music library has provided the University of Tartu with audio-visual materials needed for teaching and research, as well as given access to electronic magazines, books and music databases. Just as other library collections are open to all users, the collections of the Music Department and the expertise of the staff members are also available to various interest groups. We welcome the academic community of the university, as well as music teachers of Tartu kindergartens, schools and high schools, high school students, local music groups and music organisations, musicians and composers, music enthusiasts and collectors, and radio broadcasters.

The three full-time librarians of the Music Department perform all library work within the department. We acquire new materials, catalogue, classify and enter key words to sheet music, audio and video recordings, and deal with the preservation and organisation of our collections. We are equally responsible for reader services (lending, information requests, counseling), and organising events (lectures, conversation evenings) and exhibitions introducing our collections. As much as we can manage besides the daily library work and reader services - we also try to create “visibility” on social media.

In addition to the task of collecting and preserving Estonian musical heritage, the aim of the department is to create as versatile a music collection as possible in the university library - with an emphasis on the keywords „quality” and „good taste”. Today we have the largest collection of traditional or world music in Estonia, an excellent collection of jazz music, an impressive selection of early music and oriental classical music, not to mention the canon of Western classical music and popular music - carefully selected and collected record by record over the course of 40 years. In April 2023, the 25 000th CD of our collection hit the shelves. By the end of the year, all our vinyl records had been entered into the catalogue ESTER.

Today, the music department works in near-ideal rooms and conditions; we have many visitors. I hope that the next music librarian will also be trained before the elan of today’s veterans wears out.