American Music Librarianship is a biographical and historical review of the musical situation in American libraries from its roots in the late 19th century to the 1980s. Beginning with the period from 1854-55 when the Boston Public Library began to buy music for its collections, Bradley tracks the development of the Music Division in the Library of Congress under the guidance of chief librarian Oscar Senneck.

The opening section examines the professional careers of America's first music librarians and the subsequent development of music libraries, taken from information provided in their papers; documentation in their libraries; and from oral interviews with the librarians, their spouses and their successors. In the second and third sections, Bradley covers the librarians involved in the formulation of classification schemes and rules for cataloguing. The fourth section covers the colleagues of these pioneer librarians who are noteworthy for their own efforts on behalf of music in American libraries. The Music Library Association is reviewed in the final section, from its inception in 1931 through the activities of its professionals, to current goals. The book's appendices include tables and plates illustrative of various aspects discussed in the body of the book. A detailed index comprehends personal names, names of libraries, titles of publications, concepts and subjects. This book is a source book for all music libraries and librarians, school libraries, and music research collections.

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