BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
COVID-19 restrictions have forced many members of our arts community into hibernation. So it might come as a surprise to learn that, despite these changes, one local arts organisation is continuing to grow. In fact, demand for its services has only increased since the lockdowns began.
We’re talking about the Victorian Music Library – a not-for-profit organisation that boasts a collection of about 100,000 items of sheet music. Many of these works are already available to the music community for individuals, ensembles, and schools to enjoy and learn.
Donations are continuing to flood the library; the bulk of its works are yet to be catalogued. Because of the pandemic restrictions, many people – from beginners to professional musicians – have also been demanding use of the resources so they can spend their time practising their instruments during isolation.
This is where the problem lies: the library is needed, and it’s growing. But it also doesn’t have a home.
The VML was established in 1974, and its most recent home was the Uniting Church Archives Centre in Elsternwick (pictured above). When that was sold in 2014, the library had nowhere to go. The sheet music was placed into containers at a storage facility — a temporary solution. The library’s volunteers also took some of its resources home for safekeeping.
As can be expected, these are unsustainable locations for the VML, which claims to house one of the world’s largest collections of sheet music accessible to the local public through membership – second-most only to that of the New York Public Library.
In this interview, the VML’s honourable secretary Glynn Davies tells us a bit more about the way the community engages in this collection, and what it desperately needs in a new and proper home.
For those who haven’t yet used the Victorian Music Library, how would you describe its function within the local arts community?
The aim of the Victorian Music Library, a not-for-profit organisation, is to make its vast collection of sheet music available to the broader arts community and musicians.
Originally, the VML grew out of a strong demand by instrumental music teachers and performers to have access to music that was not readily available. Retail orders for publications must be specially purchased, and there is always a long wait to receive shipments from overseas publishers. Many works requested are not easily available in Australia when required, or they are simply no longer in print, which is where the unique VML collection becomes invaluable.
Sheet music often has a ‘one-off’ performance use by any ensemble or individual, or is sometimes used only for a short time whilst the musician or ensemble matures. The music is then returned for borrowing by another music ensemble. In addition, some members browse the collection in order to choose their standard repertoire, and rehearse the work prior to making a retail purchase.
The VML enables every performer to keep their repertoire fresh and developing in a very practical way.
The VML has provided its resources to tens of thousands in our community across ensembles, orchestras, and educational institutions. What’s your own background in music – or librarianship – and how long have youbeen part of this incredible service to the community?
I developed a fascination for the varied collection in 1990 after visiting the VML whilst still in my later school years. After getting to know the friendly staff, I developed an enthusiasm which quickly led me to express an interest in assisting on a volunteer basis. I have kept an active interest in the VML ever since.
The skills and knowledge I have accumulated at the VML have enabled me to share this information with the current enthusiastic group of volunteers. My interest in the VML subsequently led me to my current positions in the music libraries at Orchestra Victoria, The Australian Ballet, and Australian Music Events. I also prepare typesetting for the Australian Chamber Orchestra, as well as for an immense amount of personal clients.
As a cellist since an early age, and the son of parents from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, I feel I carry close to my heart an eagerness that the VML should be in operation. I have seen first-hand the valuable contribution the library makes to the arts community, as well as to individuals.
Interestingly, your library has seen increased demand for your sheet music during COVID-19. Can you tell us a little more about this?
There has been increased demand for sheet music as many members of the public have started learning music and are new to the experience, and are requesting books containing methods and repertoire. Musicians have had the time in their isolation to explore varied repertoire for performances in the future. Beginners and established players alike have all had the need to access sheet music.
It is very important to point out that when a musician plays for any kind of performance, be it at home or on a stage, the execution of their skills is the accumulation of years and years of practice. The actual performance and satisfaction itself is just the most noticeable outcome. The concentration of their practice and refinement of technique is achieved either at home or in a similar personal place, and musicians are very much used to spending copious amounts of time alone in order to hone their musical skills.
That is why, with the population currently in lockdown and adapting to health restrictions, the resources the VML has to offer is more important than ever. Professional, amateur, and new musicians across the country can have uninterrupted access not just to solo and chamber music, but also to methods and exercises – all of which are vital to the learning of their musical journey.
The VML was last located in the Uniting Church Archives Centre. When and why did you need to leave the previous library location?
In 2006, after months of negotiation, our librarian was able to secure our most recent location, being the Uniting Church Archives building in Elsternwick.
How did the library end up in a storage facility?
The Uniting Church listed its Elsternwick building up for sale in 2014 – along with a lot of their other properties at the time – and despite extensive research by the volunteer VML Committee, we have been unable to find a suitable or affordable venue for relocation. The library was never ‘meant’ to go into storage.
Your resources have been housed in storage containers since 2014. So why have you decided that 2020 is the right time to move back into a fitting facility?
Coming out of storage has actually been our constant goal. Indeed, we are constantly searching for a new location, but we are not currently receiving any funding, which makes the research extra tricky.
In addition to this, the storage costs increase every three months and our meagre financial savings are slowly being depleted. The collection has remained inaccessible to everyone, even to the VML Committee during this time, although we have continued to receive sheet music donations.
These items are kindly being stored at the homes of our volunteers, but their free space is rapidly running out.
What are your needs in a new location that can house your 20,000 items of sheet music, as well as cater for your volunteers to manage it all?
We have 20,000 items of catalogued sheet music, and at least another 80,000 items yet to be catalogued. The VML requires a minimum 400 to 500 square metres of floor space, such as a disused church, a converted warehouse, or perhaps something more modern. There will need to be car parking spaces for borrowers and volunteers, as often the scores and parts are very heavy to carry.
Close proximity to a post office, shops, banks, and as many different methods of public transport is preferable. In addition, a large site with enough space for rehearsals of orchestral or choral groups would be ideal. Space for other organisations to share in such a rehearsal space would be an added bonus.
What happens if your library doesn’t find a new location?
We are resolute, and we are determined to find a new location which is suitable for our needs and within our budget. The question is, where? This is why we are appealing to the imagination and network of the arts community to help us find a new location.
Where would you like the VML to be located, ideally?
The geographical area under investigation for new premises would stretch outwards from inner Melbourne in an easterly direction towards Camberwell, and then down in an arc towards Sandringham, for maximum ease of access to its borrowers and volunteers.
To private or community spaces that may be willing to open their doors to the VML, what message or words would you like to share?
We are able to set up in a stand-alone site. However, sharing space with a like-minded arts organisation or individuals is also an option. Any suitable facility would enable the VML to spring back into life, and once again we can help the entire music community.
Learn more about the Victorian Music Library — or reach out to Glynn about a fitting location — on the website.
Images supplied.
