Music Library Fund
The Music Library Fund is funded by multiple donors, and is used to purchase out-of-print books, scores and recordings, or other retrospective additions to the collection of significant value. The Fund also supports purchase of special equipment or software to facilitate or enhance information delivery to patrons by the library staff.
The music library, known as the William and Gayle Cook Music Library today, was established in 1921 when the IU Department of Music became the School of Music with Winfred Merrill as the School's Dean. Merrill started a collection of recordings, books, and scores for student and faculty use, and housed the library in glass cases in his office. By 1939, the School's first full-time music librarian, Ethyl Louise Lyman, was hired, and the library was located on the second floor of Merrill Hall. By the time of Lyman's retirement in 1959, the library had grown to include 35,000 books, 80 sets of periodicals, 12,000 recordings, 137,840 items of printed music, and 250 rolls of microfilm. Throughout the 1960's and 1970's, the collection became more established with the addition of two special collections—the Latin American Music Collection and the Black Music Center and its Black Music Collection.
Today, the Cook Music Library houses 72,500 monographs, 17,350 journal volumes, 155,617 scores, 165,701 sound recordings, and 20,498 microfilms. It is recognized as one of the largest academic music libraries in the world, and is directed by Philip Ponella.