On the cover: a view of the Loews Philadelphia Hotel downtown. Used with permission.

Welcome to Philadelphia!

Transitions
New Members
Chapter Reports:
NEMLA
Atlantic (AtMLA)
SEMLA
Member Publications

Greetings from Iowa City! 

By the time you read this the fall term will be winding down.  Can you believe it?  Didn’t classes just get started?  It’s amazing how time just zips by. 

The MLA calendar zips by just as quickly.  We’ve held our first electronic voting for our next class of members-at-large by the time you read this, conference registration is in full swing, and we’ll be assembling in Philadelphia in just a few weeks.  Richard Griscom and his merry band of LACers have been hard at work getting ready for our arrival.  Personally, I’m looking forward to scoping out the Reading Terminal Market (http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/), especially after watching a program on Philadelphia on my local PBS station just this past Saturday morning.  Burt Wolf walked viewers all over the city and spent a lot of time in the Market.  If you can’t find me at the hotel, that’s probably where I will be! 

There are all sorts of reasons to attend the Philadelphia meeting.  It will be our first that centers around a theme:  Born Digital.  Laurie Sampsel and her Program Committee have put together a very strong program that focuses on this particular theme.  We’ll also be voting on the MLA-IAML-US merger at the annual business meeting, as guided by our constitution which requires in-person voting.  Background information on the specifics for the merger are available via the MLA Website. 

Something new we’ll try out in Philadelphia is a kind of “get to know MLA”/ speed-dating kind of session in which committee chairs and others will be available in the Exhibit area during breaks to answer questions about their work.  This is the brainchild of board members Susannah Cleveland and Liza Vick who thought it would be a great idea to give MLAers—especially our newer members—a great way to learn more about opportunities for involvement with the association.  All are welcome to participate and we will look forward to getting your opinions about how it worked. 

The MLA calendar goes by so fast that I can hardly believe this is my last Newsletter message.  President-elect Jerry McBride will step up to the president’s chair at the close of the Philadelphia meeting.   At the same time, Assistant T/Ex Linda Blair will switch roles with current T/Ex Michael Rogan.  Members-at-large Linda Fairtile, Steven Mantz, and Jenn Riley will step down as new members-at-large join Susannah Cleveland, Cheryl Taranto, and Liza Vick, and Recording Secretary Pamela Bristah on the Executive Board. 

Being privileged to serve as MLA President has brought home to me time and time again just how devoted our members are, both to the profession of music librarianship and to our beloved MLA.  Interacting with so many of you to move the work of the association forward has been a true honor and a joy.  I know you will keep that momentum rolling when new president Jerry McBride slides into the driver’s seat. 
With thanks and great appreciation to all of you,

Ruthann

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Welcome to Philadelphia!
Rcihard Griscom, Chair, Local Arrangement Committee

The Atlantic Chapter of MLA invites you to Philadelphia—the City of Brotherly Love, and the home of Samuel Barber, Marian Anderson, John Coltrane, Joan Jett, the Roots, and the cheesesteak (“wid” or “widout”)—to attend the 80th Annual Meeting of the Music Library Association, 9–12 February 2011.

The meeting will be held in the Loews Hotel, 1200 Market Street, conveniently located in Center City Philadelphia, across the street from the Reading Terminal Market and a short walk from the historic district and Chinatown. There are several dozen restaurants within a few blocks of the hotel, and inexpensive airport transportation is available across the street at Market East Station. The meeting will begin with the traditional opening reception in the exhibit hall on Wednesday evening, 9 February, and end with the banquet on Saturday night, 12 February.

This is the first time that MLA has chosen to meet in a former bank. The Loews Hotel occupies the historic art deco Philadelphia Savings Fund Society Building, one of the most important early skyscrapers. Dating from 1932, the building marked a departure from traditional downtown architecture, with a T-shaped tower rising thirty-six stories high, topped with a red neon “PSFS” sign that has become a Philadelphia landmark. The building was converted to a hotel in the late 1990s. Bank offices now serve as guest rooms, and our banquet will be held in the former main cashier’s hall. As you walk through the hotel, you will see vaults and safe deposit boxes—some of the last vestiges of the building’s origins.

For conference attendees interested in seeing the sights of Philadelphia, the historic district is a short fifteen-minute walk east of the hotel. Here you will find Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Betsy Ross (née Griscom) House, and the National Constitution Center. A thirty-minute walk northwest up the Benjamin Franklin Parkway will take you past the city’s major museums: the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Franklin Institute, the Rodin Museum, and, at the end of the parkway, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where you can pose with the kitschy and controversial statue of Rocky Balboa—oh, and encounter some beautiful works of art. Other museums within easy walking distance are the Rosenbach Museum and Library and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

The hotel’s restaurant, SoleFood, serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and offers a Starbucks morning coffee bar from 6:30 am to 10:30 am with free wireless. Step outside the hotel, and you will find dozens of restaurants within a few blocks—a wealth of eateries, both upscale and downscale. For cheap eats, a block away from the hotel is the historic Reading Terminal Market (12th and Arch), where over eighty merchants offer fresh produce, meats, fish, groceries, ice cream, flowers, baked goods, crafts, and specialty and ethnic foods. Two blocks east of the market is the Chinatown Friendship Gate (10th and Arch Streets), the entrance to Chinatown, where the blocks are lined with reasonably priced Asian restaurants.

The Loews Hotel is centrally located for fine shopping. Five blocks west of the hotel are the Shops at Liberty Place, an enclosed mall with sixty shops and restaurants. One block west of the hotel is Macy’s, formerly the Wanamaker department store, home of the world’s largest pipe organ. Short walks away are Jeweler’s Row, Antique Row, and Rittenhouse Row (here you’ll find an Apple Store, Barney’s Co-op, Juicy Couture, and Kenneth Cole). And remember: there is no sales tax on clothing in Pennsylvania, so look forward to wowing your friends when you return from MLA with your new tax-free Phillies jersey.

For those attendees arriving in Philadelphia early to take in some of the sights of this vibrant city, we have planned four tours, all scheduled for Wednesday, 9 February.

George Blood is offering morning and afternoon tours of Safe Sound Archive/George Blood Audio-Video in Chestnut Hill. As Blood puts it, “See 2,000 lb. video machines and 40 terabytes of RAID5 data storage; hear the difference between 96kHz/24bit and 44.1kHz/16 bit sound; learn how 200 concurrent projects are managed; observe tape storage that passively cures Sticky Shed Syndrome!” Complimentary transportation will be provided via van or bus to Chestnut Hill (a half-hour ride), courtesy of Safe Sound Archive.

A tour of the Free Library of Philadelphia on Wednesday morning will begin in the newly renovated reading room of the Music Department and continue with a visit to the Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music, the world’s largest lending library of orchestral performance material. In the Rare Book department, a selection of the library’s unique holdings will be available for viewing, including medieval manuscripts, Pennsylvania Dutch hymn books, and materials related to Beatrix Potter and Edgar Allan Poe. Your hosts will be Steve Landstreet (head, Music Department), Kile Smith (curator, Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music), and Katharine Chandler (reference librarian, Rare Book Department). The library is a twenty-minute walk from the hotel.

In the afternoon, join Philadelphia Orchestra librarians Robert Grossman and Steve Glanzmann for a visit to the performing library of the Philadelphia Orchestra and a tour of the Kimmel Center and Verizon Hall, the principal performance venue for the orchestra. Then walk next door to see the renowned Academy of Music, the orchestra’s home during the days of Stokowski and Ormandy. A short three-block walk down Locust Street will take you to the Curtis Institute of Music, where librarian Elizabeth Walker will offer a self-guided tour of the institute’s library.

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Edward A. Mauger, director of Philadelphia on Foot and author of two books on the city, has put together two tours for MLA members. “High Life in Colonial Philadelphia” will be a guided tour through elegant Society Hill, including a visit to the city’s finest colonial townhouse, where George Washington danced his 20th wedding anniversary, Jefferson played his fiddle, and Ben Franklin demonstrated his “kissing machine.” The second tour is “Ben Franklin: Media Mogul and Music Maven.” We all have an image of this most accessible founding father; but who was the real Benjamin Franklin? As you stroll down the same 18th-century lanes where Ben walked and visit the sites where he worked, printed, prayed, and partied, you will find new insights into this famous Founder.

Thanks to the generosity of the Atlantic Chapter of the Music Library Association and the libraries of the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Princeton University, the University of Virginia, Rutgers University, Rowan University, and Haverford College, there will be a reception Friday evening in Solmssen Court, the beautiful glass atrium at the University of the Arts, with beer, wine, soft drinks, and light hors d’œuvres.  The reception will be scheduled early to allow attendees to make other evening engagements.

On Saturday evening, following the association’s business meeting, we will host the traditional pre-banquet cocktail hour, showcasing a performance by the MLA Big Band. Our post-banquet musical entertainment will be provided by the West Philadelphia Orchestra, an ensemble whose music is mostly rooted in Eastern European folk music traditions, “nourished by our jazz heritage, tinged with punk rock, soul, and cheesesteaks, and blended with the voices of our community.”

During the week of our meeting, the Philadelphia Orchestra will be performing under the direction of guest conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. The Opera Company of Philadelphia is staging Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet on Friday night. There will also be free student recitals at the Curtis Institute of Music and chamber music performances sponsored by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. 

Philadelphia is home to a large number of theater groups, and most have productions scheduled each night of the conference. The featured plays include Amadeus, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Race, Big Love, Parenting 101: The Musical, Great Expectations, Nocturne, and Lidless.
 
For the latest information on MLA 2011, please visit the meeting website at http://mla2011.musiclibraryassoc.org. We look forward to seeing you in Philadelphia this February!

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Why are we meeting in Philadelphia? Or, what do those Convention Managers do, anyway?

Bonna J. Boettcher, Convention Manager
Laura Gayle Green, Assistant Convention Manager

While MLA members look forward to our annual meetings, many may not know what happens behind the scenes when putting together the conference. What follows is a brief outline of what it takes to prepare for and run an annual meeting for MLA.

Choosing the City
The site selection process usually begins four or five years prior to the annual meeting, when the president receives an invitation from an interested group of members.  Frequently, invitations come from chapters, although sometimes groups of librarians in a particular city may issue an invitation on their own.  MLA’s current practice is to rotate meetings geographically, meeting in the east (covered by NEMLA, NYS/O, Atlantic, Greater NY, and some in states SEMLA), the midwest (Midwest, some states in SEMLA, Texas, and possibly some states in Mountain-Plains), and the west (some Mountain-Plains states, Southern California, Northern California, and Pacific Northwest).  If MLA decides to move to a different sequence, the rotation will need to be reconfigured.

The president brings the invitation to the board for discussion; if the discussion occurs at an annual meeting, a representative from the group issuing the invitation may attend the discussion to answer questions.  The board votes to accept or decline the invitation, with acceptance contingent on successful hotel negotiations.  Now the Convention Managers start working…

Site Visits
Site visits generally occur about three years prior to the conference.  The convention manager forwards MLA’s requirements and specifications to the local Convention and Visitors’ Bureau (CVB), and is assigned to one of the CVB’s staff members.  The CVB sends the specifications to hotels likely to be able to accommodate MLA’s needs, forwards proposals to the convention manager, and schedules site visits.  There are several factors that limit hotels we can consider.  MLA generally needs two large (7,500-9,000 square feet) rooms to accommodate plenary sessions and exhibits.  We also require at least 10-12 breakout rooms in a variety of sizes, accommodating groups ranging from 8 or 9 to 100 to 150 people.  Yet MLA is a bit on the small side for many convention centers, which are designed for much larger groups (think ALA, if you’ve ever attended a meeting).

Ideally, site visits include both the convention manager and assistant convention manager; this allows two sets of ears and eyes during meetings to make sure all of the association’s needs are addressed.  We try to schedule overnight stays at each of the hotels under consideration, if at all possible.  Generally, our CVB representative accompanies us on the official visits, and we also try to include the MLA member who will be serving as local arrangements chair for the meeting:  that local perspective is really important.

Site visits are one of the real perks of the CM/ACM jobs.  The hotels and CVBs want our business, and we are treated well.  Beginning at check-in, it is clear that the hotel staff have been alerted to our arrival. Swell treatment aside, though: are the site visits exhausting? Yes. How so? Using San Jose as an example, we received proposals from three different hotels for our conference. We spent two nights in the first hotel, and one each in the next two. We walked all over the hotels twice, once on our own, checking out meeting spaces and the general look and feel, and a second time with the hotel staff. There is a good reason for this: when we are on our own, we see things with our own filters and can have questions ready for the hotel staff about the needs of our group and how that may or may not work with the hotel layout. Sometimes events or meetings are in the space during this time, and that provides a great opportunity to see the hotel staff at work without it being obvious we are potential customers.  We had opportunities to meet with A-V providers to discuss MLA’s various equipment and connectivity needs.  We also made sure to ask about options for recycling and any other green initiatives sponsored by the hotels.

We scouted out the fitness centers and pools where available. And, we looked for other services that may be appreciated by the membership—for example, one hotel had a guest laundry facility coin operated laundromat (great if you find you spilled food on an outfit and you need to wash something rather than send it to an expensive dry cleaner). We checked out prices at the hotels’ bars and restaurants, and tried to eat at least one meal on our own at each hotel to get a sense of their food service. The hotel staff usually had a meal meeting to kick things off, but we also thought it good to try the food again on our own.

We did a lot of walking in the blocks surrounding the hotels, scouting out places where our membership could grab a quick, inexpensive meal, groceries, coffee, or have a more leisurely meal. What if you need to have a prescription filled at the last minute, or your reading glasses fall apart?  We looked to see if drug stores are close to the hotel.  We also looked for other things: museums and concert venues in case members want to explore the host city a little, and how close/far these are from potential hotel sites, as well as the availability of public transportation.

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Negotiating with the hotels
In their proposals, the hotels include a guest room rate, a minimum number of guest rooms that must be occupied to receive the rate (known as “room nights”), a minimum dollar amount that must be spent on catering during the meeting, a tentative meeting space grid, and various concessions (gratis room nights, based on how many total paid nights are booked, etc.).  The hotel’s proposal is the starting point, and many items are negotiable.

The primary goals of the negotiations are to ensure that we receive the best room rate possible for the membership and that we receive meeting spaces at no additional charge.  MLA uses quite a bit of concurrent meeting space in hotels, and keeping the meeting space costs down (or better yet, gratis meeting space) has a direct correlation to the conference registration fees.  Over the past several years, we’ve learned one of the ways we can achieve those goals is to agree to a catering minimum, usually in the range of $50,000-$80,000 and a set number of room nights (you may have wondered why the MLA president and convention managers placed so much emphasis on MLA conference attendees staying at the conference hotel: those room nights are contracted and affect MLA’s ability to have gratis meeting-room space).  Hotel catering is not inexpensive, and with receptions, the banquet, and breaks, it is easy to meet those minimum amounts.

The convention manager is in close contact with the CVB and/or hotel representative and the president during the negotiation process; the president may consult with the board if particularly sticky questions arise (e.g., which is better:  a lower room rate, or a location within walking distance of coffee shops and restaurants?).  When the CM believes the best deal possible has been reached, the sales manager at the chosen hotel prepares a contract.  The contract outlines MLA’s responsibilities (number of room nights required, a grid of spaces and times reserved for MLA, catering minimum, preferred A-V and exhibition service providers, etc.), as well as the hotel’s responsibilities (which rooms are to be reserved for MLA, what amenities are to be included, etc.).  After carefully reviewing the contract, the president signs the contract and negotiations are complete.

The Budget
Preparing the convention budget, including setting registration fees, is the next major activity for the CM.  Work toward the budget begins almost a year in advance of the conference, when the CM is assigned a liaison with the hotel.  The liaison provides contact information for preferred exhibition service providers (outside companies that provide a variety of services, including tables and chairs for the exhibits, poster boards for the poster sessions, signage, registration counters), preferred A-V providers, and catering menus. The ACM negotiates with exhibition service providers, working to get the best possible rate for the materials we need to rent and the services we purchase.  When the CM receives the A-V needs list from the program chair, the CM blocks out a tentative room grid, with requirements for each room, and sends the grid, plus a summary to the A-V services provider for an estimate.  The CM also prepares a tentative catering grid.

The development officer and local arrangements committee develop a plan for local fundraising.  Donors may specify how their funds are to be used (tote bags, breaks, tours), or may simply contribute without restrictions.

The convention budget includes two broad categories:  expenses and income.  The expenses category includes:

• Program printing
• Program expenses (speaker fees, etc)
• Registration costs (photocopying, folders, etc.)
• Local arrangements costs (a band for the banquet, etc.)
• Exhibits
• Equipment and internet connectivity
• Catering
• Liability insurance (yes, MLA is required to carry liability insurance)
• Big Band (sound equipment and instrument rental)
• Tours
• Contingency

The income category includes:

• Registration fees
• Exhibitor fees
• Catering income (extra banquet tickets)
• Contributions
• Tours
• Program advertising
• Conference packet inserts

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Typically, catering and equipment/connectivity are the two largest expenses. In addition to food costs, catering carries a service charge and sales tax (the service charge for Philadelphia is 20%, which is lower than the previous two locations, and the sales tax is 8% for food and non-alcoholic beverages, and 10% for alcoholic beverages).  A modest continental breakfast buffet generally costs $25-$27 per person; coffee costs anywhere from $65-$100 per gallon, depending on the hotel.  A dozen bagels, with cream cheese, can cost $42-$48.  While it may seem more economical to make a Costco/Sam’s Club run for bagels, hotels do not allow conferences to bring in outside food/drink for their group.  Again, we have to meet catering minimums from our contract, and we consider the catering expenses as part of contract negotiation. 

A typical A-V setup for a 75-person meeting room costs $800-$1,000 per day, plus service charge and tax, and for the plenary-session sized room costs $1,800 - $2,000 per day, plus service charge and tax.  Any additional equipment, such as CD and DVD players, wireless microphones, etc., incurs additional charges.  And internet connections are not free:  hotels charge for connectivity in meeting spaces, usually on a per connection basis.  Bottom line?  Catering, given an $80,000 minimum, totals $104,000 when the service charge and taxes are added in.  A-V and internet costs quickly can exceed $25,000-$30,000.

To arrive at registration fees, estimated and known expenses are totaled, and estimated and known income is totaled.  The CM/ACM, finance committee, and board determine how many attendees they are willing to include in the budget calculations.  This can be a bit tricky, and those making the decision have to take into consideration the current economy, the location, and historic trends.  For example, east-coast meetings generally have the highest attendance, and west-coast meetings the lowest.  The end goal has been to make the conferences self-supporting, but not to use them as money-makers for the association.  The goal is not for MLA to make a profit off of the annual conference, but to break even.  In years when the conference did generate a profit, it has been a result of unexpected events, such as reduced A-V costs due to contractor issues, or higher attendance than estimated.

Local Arrangements
In addition to working with the development officer on a fundraising plan for the conference, the local arrangements committee plays a vital role in planning and running the conference.  LAC members develop the graphics associated with the conference; maintain the conference Web site; decide on tours to offer the association (the cost of the tours must be offset by tour registration fees); work with the local CVB to obtain necessary maps and other local information for registration packets; and stuff all those packets.  LAC members choose the banquet menu; find the band for the banquet; help staff the registration desk;  and help find instruments and stands for the band.  Plus, they are our official go-to people for any local information needed by the CMs and the membership.  And, the role of the LAC in dealing with “What ifs…” is vital.

What if…
Ideally, all aspects of the conference will move forward as planned.  Unfortunately, emergencies can and do arise.  Emergencies can range from relatively minor annoyances (needing to shift rooms around, based on session sizes and hotel commitments) to major issues (usually involving construction and renovations).  MLA’s experience has been that the greater the issue, the more likely hotel staff are willing to help out.  For example, in Newport, the Hyatt staff had already contacted the Marriott to make preliminary arrangements for guest accommodations.  They also worked closely with the Newport CVB to set up shuttle services between the properties.  In Philadelphia, Marriott staff provided two options for MLA, including assisting with negotiations to move the meeting to Loews.  Still, these experiences are stressful for the CM/ACM, LAC, president, and board, all of whom work to ensure a successful meeting for those who attend.

Finally
MLA’s annual meetings provide many opportunities for attendees, but they present significant challenges organizationally and financially.  Hotels want our business, but conferences are revenue-generating activities for them (and for many educational institutions):  no one is giving away their services.  The convention managers hope this brief glimpse into the behind-the-scenes work of the annual meeting will help MLA members understand how the convention-planning process works, and also, how members can set future priorities for the association.

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These are the current Corporate Members and Corporate Patrons of MLA. 
We appreciate their support of MLA!

Corporate Patrons
American Institute of Musicology
A-R Editions, Inc
Harrassowitz
J W Pepper & Son, Inc
OMI – Old Manuscripts & Incunabula
Theodore Front Musical Literature, Inc.

Corporate Members
aaa Music Hunter Distributing Company
Alexander Street Press
Broude Brothers Limited
G. Schirmer Inc/Associated Music Publishers, Inc.
Music Library Service Company
New World Records
Preservation Technologies
Yesterday Service Sheet Music, Inc.

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31 December 2010
Early registration deadline for MLA Annual Conference 2011

10 January 2011
Pre-conference registration deadline for “RDA: A Hands-on Interaction.”

21 January 2011
Regular registration deadline for MLA Annual Conference

9-12 February 2011
MLA Annual Conference in Philadelphia, PA

Renew your MLA membership if you haven’t yet!

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Jim Cassaro
MLA Development Officer

Many thanks to all of you members who donated generously during the dues renewal cycle this past June, and who also took advantage of joining our new giving circles, the Orpheus Society and the Ostinato Club. Those of you who signed up as a MLA Soloist took your opportunity to blow your own horn in honor of MLA! Hopefully many more virtuosi will join your ranks this coming year! Your donations allow the association to do greater and greater things. The September meeting of MLA’s Board of Directors—splendidly hosted by President Ruthann McTyre in Iowa City—always provides a stimulating environment which reenergizes me as your Development Officer. A number of activities are underway. Again this year MLA is working with Mark Puente, Director of Diversity and Leadership Programs for ARL, on a grant proposal to IMLS to sponsor a diversity scholarship for those students looking to become part of the field of music librarianship. Five institutions have signed on to be partners in this sponsorship. We will continue to work on this issue within the association as we look to our future and to our sustainability as an organization.

Again this year we will sponsor a drink ticket initiative during the conference registration period. The program works the same as last year. For every $25.00 donated to a MLA Fund when registering for the Philadelphia conference, you will receive one free drink ticket. A donation of $100.00 will receive five free drink tickets. This initiative was wildly successful in San Diego, and I hope that it will be bigger and better this year!

One of our new initiatives is a MLA Big Band Calendar which will be available for purchase before the December holidays. This fifteen-month calendar (January 2011 to March 2012) will feature photos of our beloved ensemble working and performing together, as well as some solo shots to boot! This is the first in a potential series of MLA-based calendars. As always, there will be a Silent Auction this year, the first $1000.00 of proceeds from which will fund the 2012 Carol June Bradley Award.

Stay tuned for more exciting news to come!

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Our hearty congratulations to all those pursuing new opportunities.

Joy Banks, Librarian, Bok Tower Gardens
Tammy Ravas, Copyright Web site Editor, Music Librarian Association
Thomas Walker, Music & Digital Services Librarian, Marshall University

Kristi Norma Austin, Idaho State University
Langston Bates, Denton, TX
Sofia Becerra-Licha, Chapel Hill, NC
Jessica Bedol, Claremont, CA
David N. Bouchard, Portland, ME
Brian Patrick Clark, Chicago, IL
Kalle Randell Covert, Brooklyn, NY
Kyle Irvin Curley, Lakewood, OH
Christopher Edward Diamond, Woodway, TX
Carolyn Doi, McGill University
Heather Fisher, Midland, MI
Carolyn Jo Fulkerson, Oakland, CA
Abigail Orian Garnett, Brooklyn, NY
Timothy Michael Gudlewski, North Tonawanda, NY
Natalie Jo Hall, Chicago, IL
Katy Steel Hoffler, Davidson College

Katrina Charlene Ireland, Whitinsville, MA
Eric Krewson, University of Pennsylvania
David Leone, Nashville, TN
Mary Marissen, Swarthmore College
Mateja S. Miljacki, SambaLolo, Somerville, MA
Jessica L. Mirasol, Norfolk, VA
Jessica Nay, Buffalo, NY
Jared Negley, Harrison, NJ
Theresa Rosas, Brooklyn, NY
Joan E. Schuitema, Evanston, IL
Amanda Smith, Milwaukee, WI
Corinne Jessica Smither, Toledo, OH
Joseph J. Tang, Seabrook, NH
Jonathan Thomas, Portland, OR
Erica A. Watson, Long Beach, CA
Patricia Woodard, Hunter College (CUNY)

NEMLA
Marci Cohen, Tufts University

The New England Chapter (NEMLA) held its fall meeting on Friday, October 15, 2010 at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. The meeting kicked off with greetings from chapter chair Liza Vick (Harvard), program committee chair Suzanne Lovejoy (Yale) and local host Anna Kijas (University of Connecticut).

The bulk of the day was devoted to the session “Lightning Talks from the Trenches,” during which speakers had seven minutes to devote to their topics. Speakers were grouped by theme. Peter Munstedt (MIT) started the audio session by discussing how to go about making an iPad available for circulation. Alec McLane (Wesleyan) followed up with the technical challenges of providing streaming audio for iPads. Jean Morrow (New England Conservatory) and Anna Kijas addressed implementing Variations software for streaming audio, while Suzanne Lovejoy approached the same topic for ShareStream software. Kerry Masteller (Harvard) discussed the challenges of collecting, digitizing, and playing surround-sound electronic compositions.

The morning wrapped up with single-topic presentations. On the theme of collection development, Ned Quist (Brown) discussed coordinated collection of contemporary composers’ works among Borrow Direct libraries. Jonathan Manton (Britten-Pears Foundation) discussed the Benjamin Britten Thematic Catalogue as a research tool.

The afternoon session was devoted to library instruction. Erica Charis (Berklee) described the implementation of a library instruction program for freshmen. Remi Castonguay garnered the most questions with his talk on Yale’s personal librarian outreach program. Marlene Wong (Smith) concluded by discussing how she took her personal interests and research projects, including Bollywood and tango, and developed them into online research guides.

In between the sessions of lightning rounds, committees met to revitalize the chapter’s committee structure. Each of four committees, Education and Outreach, Library Instruction, Technical Services and Publications, brainstormed for 45 minutes to evaluate their charge and generate ideas on how to carry it out. Then, each committee reported their plans to the whole group. The day ended with tours of UConn’s Music & Dramatics Arts Library and the Dairy Barn, followed by a reception at the Dairy Bar.

The spring meeting will be held Friday, March 18, 2011, co-hosted by the Boston Conservatory and Berklee College of Music in Boston.

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Atlantic (AtMLA)
Lisa Shiota, Secretary-Treasurer

Autumn is a magical time on the East Coast, when the temperature cools down, the skies become a bright cerulean blue, and the leaves on the trees transform into fiery colors. It is also the time of the year when the Atlantic Chapter (AtMLA) has its meeting. This year, AtMLA met at American University in Washington, DC, on 15-16 October 2010.

In cooperation with MLA’s Educational Outreach Program (EOP), AtMLA offered three preconference workshops to librarians in the DC metropolitan area. Lisa Woznicki led the workshop on music reference, Bob Lipartito taught sound recordings cataloging, and Kristin Heath and Carl Rahkonen gave guidance on music collection development. David King, chapter member and co-coordinator of the EOP, organized the event. Judging from the largely positive feedback received from the participants, the workshops were a success.

Chapter members were invited on a tour of the United States Marine Band Library prior to the meeting. Chief Librarian Master Sergeant Jane Cross showed the group around the Marine Barracks Annex facilities, which include state-of-the-art practice rooms and ensemble rehearsal space, as well as the library. The “President’s Own” Marine Band performs several times at the White House every year, and part of their repertoire reflects the current administration’s musical tastes. The tour included a presentation of photos and manuscripts from the Marine Band Library’s archives.

AtMLA’s fall meeting began with a presentation by Jim Cassaro about manuscripts of Michael Haydn and his contemporaries found in file cabinets at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Steve Gerber discussed the sociocultural implications of the concerts given by the Church Music Association in the 1870s, and the scandal that ultimately caused the association’s demise. Gerry Ostrove reported on the progress of the music genre/form project at the Library of Congress and their collaboration with the MLA-Bibliographic Control Committee’s Genre/Form Task Force. Winston Barham spoke of the efforts of the University of Virginia’s library to preserve its concert recordings.

As a change of pace, everyone was treated to music performed by chapter members Nobue Matsuoka, Dick Griscom, and Lisa Shiota during the coffee break.
Two guest speakers presented Saturday morning. Marc Medwin, Assistant Professor at American University, talked about perspectives on jazz-rock fusion and of Steve Marcus’s album Tomorrow Never Knows. The National Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Librarian, Marcia Farabee, gave an introduction to the Major Orchestra Librarians’ Association and a peek into a day in the life of an ensemble librarian. The business meeting was the final event, in which plans were discussed concerning the MLA 2011 annual conference in Philadelphia, and then the torch was passed by the outgoing chair, Bob Follet, to the new chair, Kristin Heath.

The Atlantic Chapter fall meeting remains a highlight of the season, and an event to look forward to.

AtMLA members watch a presentation at their chapter meeting. Taken by Nobue Matsuoka-Motley.

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SEMLA
John Druesdow, Chapter Chair

The 40th anniversary meeting of the Southeast Chapter (SEMLA) took place on the campus of the University of South Carolina (Columbia, SC) on 14-16 October, with close to thirty-five members in attendance, including ten first-time attendees.  Sponsors were MLSC (Music Library Service Company), Theodore Front Music Literature, and the Thomas Cooper Library of the University of South Carolina. 

Presentations by Jacob Schaub, Pam Dennis, Patricia Puckett Sasser, William Bates, Sara Nodine, and Nara Newcomer constituted most of the conference program, and a tour of the recently opened and very impressive Ernest F. Hollings Special Collections Library provided a look at some of the literary and visual treasures held by the library.  Joyce Clinkscales (Emory University) and Nara Newcomer (East Carolina University) were elected vice-chair/chair-elect and member-at-large, respectively.  Scott Phinney chaired the local arrangements committee, which demonstrated flawless conference planning.  Further details will appear in the forthcoming (January) issue of Breve Notes, the online chapter newsletter now edited by Kathryn Munson (Southeastern Lousiana University).

University of South Carolina School of Music Sign,
taken by John Druesdow

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Please send citations for items published or premiered in the past calendar year to the column editor,
Mac Nelson, via e-mail or USPS mail at the address below. Please follow the citation style employed below. You must be a current MLA member to submit citations.

Mac Nelson
Cello Music Cataloger
Jackson Library
University of North Carolina, Greensboro
P.O. box 26170
Greensboro, NC 27402-6170
wmnelson@uncg.edu

Books and Chapters

Kijas, Anna E. (University of Connecticut)
Maria Szymanowska (1789-1831): A Bio-Bibliography. (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2010).
 
Levy, Morris (Northwestern University)
"From Vienna to Naples to Cambridge: the Ward Collection, Robert von Gallenberg, and Furio Camillo," in John Ward and His Magnificent Collection, ed. Gordon Hollis (Beverly Hills, CA: Golden Legend, 2010), 86-92.
Morris Levy notes that other MLA members who contributed to this volume are John and Jude Lubrano (“La chasse et le professeur, or, Reminiscenses of four decades on the prowl,” 36-41), Andrea Cawelti (“Introduction to the John Milton and Ruth Neils Ward Collections at Harvard University,” 55-60),
Ginny Danielson (“A passage to India : John Ward and the whole world of music,” 61-86), Lisa Cox (“A French journey,” 69-75), and Don Krummel (“Lutebooks on the loose,” 151-159).

Nieweg, Clinton F. (Proof Purr-fect Research)
Music for Bass Trombone with Orchestra: A Handbook: A Comprehensive Index of Compositions for Bass Trombone with Orchestra, String Orchestra or Ensemble Accompaniment. Compiled by Clinton F. Niewig (Denton, TX: Kagarice Brass Editions, 2010).

Articles

Baker, Grover (Middle Tennessee State University) and Chris Durman (University of Tennessee) 
“Music Reference: Just the Basics.” Tennessee Libraries 60, no. 3 (2010): http://www.tnla.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=385.

Boye, Gary R. (Appalachian State University)
"Bluegrass Covers of Bob Dylan in the 1960s." Volume! Le revue des musiques populaires 7, no. 1 (2010): 243-266.

Dougan, Kirstin (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
“A View of Music Librarianship as Seen Through its Journals: A Comparison of Notes and Fontes Artis Musicae, 1977-2007.”  Notes 66, no. 4 (June 2010): 705-725.

Koblick, Rebecca (The City College of New York)
"Privileging Music in Recent Books on The Broadway Musical: A Bibliographic Essay." Music Reference Services Quarterly 13, no. 1/2 (Jan.-June 2010): 2-15.

McBride, Renée (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
“What Size Fits You? Large vs. Small Academic Libraries for the Technical Services Librarian.” LIScareer (October 2010): http://www.liscareer.com/mcbride_size.htm

Moore, Tom (Rio de Janeiro)
"An Interview with Edson Zampronha." Musica Brasileira (October 2010).  http://musicabrasileira.org/edsonzampronha/ez2010.html

“Conversation with David Claman.” Sonograma 8 (October 2010).
http://www.sonograma.org/num_08/articles/sonograma08-David-Claman-conversation.pdf

“Pierre Jalbert: An Interview.” Opera Today (24 September 2010).
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/09/pierre_jalbert_.php
 
“An Interview with Alex Shapiro.” 21st Century Music (October 2010).
http://21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com/2010/10/interview-with-alex-shapiro-tom-moore.html

Nelson, Mac (University of North Carolina at Greensboro)
“Recent Research on Laszlo Varga (with Cheers for Walter Gerboth).” Breve Notes 90 (August 2010): 4:  http://semla.musiclibraryassoc.org/brevenotes/BN90.pdf

“The Cello Music Cataloger as Program Builder.” Cataloging and Classification Quarterly 48, no. 6/7 (2010): 634-44.

Stock, Matthew C. (University of Oklahoma)
"The Three R's:  Rapport, Relationship and Reference."  The Reference Librarian 51, no. 1, (2010): 42-52.

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