The Current State of Music Librarianship: A Discussion with Recent Retirees and Introduction to Part II

The Current State of Music Librarianship:A Discussion with Recent Retirees and Introduction to Part II Jonathan Sauceda (bio) In our call for papers to this special issue on the current state of music librarianship, Dick Griscom and I declared, "in many ways, our profession has evolved more during the past few years than during the preceding few decades."1 Feeling some anxiety over such a bold statement, I decided to seek the perspective of librarians who could confirm the degree of recent change, and who, like Dick, have acquired a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge over the course of their careers. In early 2022, I wrote to a group of accomplished retirees to ask if they would consider the following questions: 1) What had been the most important development related to music libraries that happened between the start and end of their careers, and 2) what had been a very important development that hasn't received the attention it deserves? I invited them to be as brief or lengthy as they'd like and have noted the points of agreement (and disagreement) with one another and the contributors to this special double issue. I was pleased that several of the topics Dick and I selected for the September issue were covered; indeed, given these areas were almost exclusively drawn from his choices for the 2000 issue, they exhibited considerable durability. Technological change was a through line. Collection development, cataloging, and user education emerged as common subjects among the respondents, and indeed, the evolution these services have undergone in the "past few years … [and] preceding few decades" is truly astounding. I was struck, however, by how divided opinions sometimes were to the transformations witnessed. The threats libraries face were also foremost in mind, but here too I found a mixture of confidence [End Page 225] and concern. Despite my remaining ambivalence as to the degree of the profession's evolution, I believe the retirees' thoughts provide a satisfying coda to the September issue, and also an introduction, using similar thematic material, to the areas addressed in this one. I'd like to express my appreciation to Linda Blair, Beth Christensen, Michael Colby, Jean Harden, Mark McKnight, Geraldine Ostrove, Judy Tsou, and Philip Vandermeer for their generosity with their time and thoughts.2 collection development In the September issue's first essay, Daniel Zager argues in favor of an "inefficient" approach to acquiring collections, with an expert selector reviewing offerings and choosing the best items for the users of today and tomorrow.3 Geraldine Ostrove points to the danger of moving away from this model, saying "the most important development as I see it is the fact that instead of buying certain materials, now you must lease them. If you don't own your materials, how can you build a collection?" Beth Christensen is similarly concerned that "companies with little knowledge of local library environments and curricular needs" can add and remove resources without warning. "Algorithms … may make important decisions that determine results. … What control do scholars necessarily relinquish in these searches, and what impact might it have on original research?" It could appear that "an abundance of material is available" but that can change with the click of a ProQuest mouse.4 A matter-of-fact Judy Tsou puts it bluntly, "we are changing the sacrosanct idea[l] of ownership [End Page 226] to accepting the idea of renting. … The whole model of acquisition has changed." Mark McKnight has seen the shift as well but views it in more sanguine terms. "No longer is the main goal of libraries collection-building; instead, it is now to provide access to information—in a multitude of forms and formats—to those who seek it." Like Tsou, he does not necessarily see this challenge to tradition as a negative. "Our success is now measured not by how many volumes we have on our shelves, but by our ability to match the content we provide with those who are seeking it. … Keeping up with and responding to these rapid changes, while realizing the variety of needs of our users, will continue to be our main challenge for the years to come." Audio acquisition has...