Postscript

So, what is the outcome of all this research ?

My report to ALIA will give a detailed account of my findings and the reasoning behind my conclusions , but for now I would like to summarise what I know would be achievable.
As this was a study as to the feasability of the City of Sydney setting up a public music library , I am convinced that what I am going to recommend would be easily possible and extremely benficial to the cultural life of our city. (for numerous reasons which will be described in my report) If these recomendations are accepted , the City of Sydney would be the first local government authority in Australia to set up such a Library Service.

I would like to see a library attached to a performance space e.g. The City Recital Hall at Angel Place and consisting for the most part of on-line resources and equipment to use these resources , augmented by books, scores, and magazines and other services listed below as a approriate. I would not envisage there being a large CD collection as the concensus of opinion is that CDs are being phased out in favour of downloads (which, of course have to be paid for, the same as the CD ) Customers who now borrow CDs would be able to have the same access to downloads.

The public music libraries that I visited ,which were run by local government and attached to performance spaces , are

1. The Musikbibliotek at the Gavle konserthus http://www.gavlekonserthus.se/gk_musikbibliotek.php in Sweden
2. The City of London's Barbican Music Library http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/ in The Barbican concert hall complex http://www.barbican.org.uk/music
3. ExploreMusic, http://www.asaplive.com/ExploreMusic/Home.cfm Gateshead Council's (UK) music information part of The Sage, Gateshead http://www.thesagegateshead.org/about/index.aspx

These libraries were most impressive and the information I gained from my visits will form the basis of my proposals . I will ,of course, be including ideas from all the other places I visited as to what will , or would not, be practicable for our purposes.
Each library contained a combination of online and hard copy resources are available for all to use and a team of music information experts ,to help with the use of resources, and to answer music queries either in person , by telephone or electronic media.

All are lending libraries and offered some ,or all ,of the following services

• Free internet access
• Access to specialist music websites including Grove Online, the Naxos library and more
• A comprehensive 'what’s on’ listing of music events, large and small,
• Up to date information about music tutors, courses, venues, instrument repair shops and more ...
• Music magazines - current issues and archives
• Music lending and reference books
• Scores of all kinds of music : popular music songbooks as well as operas, musicals, oratorios and other choral music, instrumental tutors, solo and chamber music and collections of miniature and full scores
• Recordings, on compact disc, cover most types of music including pop, jazz and blues, folk, film, musicals, country and western as well as a comprehensive range of classical music.
• Collection of audio and video recordings of recent live performances from various venues
• Music Software - Acid, Reason, Cubasis, Soundforge, Sibelius 2, Sibelius Instruments, Sibelius Compass & Tracker - plus 6 Midi keyboards to help you compose with these programmes
• Listening posts or listening booths
• DVD viewing station
• An electric piano available free of charge for practice purposes.
• Study desks, with power for laptop use
• Daily newspapers
• A Song Index -This is an index to sheet music anthologies of popular, jazz and folk songs, songs from musicals and films, classical songs and opera arias
• Comfy seating areas – sit, relax, listen, read, learn
• opening hours co-inciding with concert performances

The space required for setting up a library of this kind, especially with a limited CD collection would not be huge . I would see CD's collections being left in the other branches of the City of Sydney , as is done in Gateshead, except perhaps for CDs of performances of forthcoming musical programs.

So this is my dream ... to be able to give the citizens of Sydney the same musical opportunity through a music library service as residents of other world class cities. To quote a recent report by the United States National Governor's Association Centre for Best Practice "Using Arts and Culture to Stimulate State Economic Development "

'By investing in the arts and incorporating arts and culture into their economic development plans, states can reap numerous benefits -economic , social, civic and cultural -that help generate a more stable, creative workforce; new tourism and more liveable communities. '

'If we do not support our own culture , we impoverish the dreams and imagination of our children '