The Sibley Music Library is the library of the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

of the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

Rochester, NY Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. It was founded in 1904 by Hiram Watson Sibley (1845-1932), son of industrialist

Hiram Sibley Hiram W. Sibley (February 6, 1807 – July 12, 1888), was an American industrialist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who was a pioneer of the telegraph in the United States. Early life Sibley was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, on Februar ...

(1807-1888), and is said to be the largest university music library in the US.

History

Mr. Sibley was prompted to found a music collection after Elbert Newton, a Rochester, NY church organist, suggested to him that such a collection would be of value to Rochester's music-loving public. The resulting collection was originally situated in Sibley Hall on the Arts College campus of the

serving both the Rochester community and the University. In January, 1922, following an agreement by ESM founder

George Eastman George Eastman (July 12, 1854March 14, 1932) was an American entrepreneur who founded the Kodak, Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. After a decade of experiments in photography, he ...

(1854-1932) and Hiram Watson Sibley, the collection was formally merged with the Eastman School of Music and was moved from its original home to the newly built Eastman School of Music in downtown Rochester. By 1937 the library had outgrown its space within the Eastman School's main building, and an annex was erected at 44 Swan Street, the adjacent block. At that time the library was renamed from Sibley Musical Library to Sibley Music Library. Even after major renovations made to that building in 1976, the library once again outgrew its space, and eventually plans were made to erect a third building. The library moved to its current location in 1989 and now occupies 45,000 square feet (4,000 m²) on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors of the Miller Center building, formerly known as Eastman Place (re-named in 2004).

Head librarians

Barbara Duncan, the first librarian was also a founder of the

Music Library Association The Music Library Association (MLA) of the United States is the main professional organization for music libraries and librarians (including those whose music materials form only part of their responsibilities and collections). It also serves cor ...

. Women’s History Month: Honoring the Women of Sibley Music Library
astman School of Music. * Barbara Duncan (1922-1947) * Ruth T. Watanabe (1947-1984) *

Mary Wallace Davidson Mary Wallace Davidson (June 9, 1935 – October 11, 2012) was an American music librarian. She is known for her work with the architects on the design of the Sibley Music Library at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. Da ...

(1984-1999) * Dan Zager (1999-2021) * Jon Sauceda (2021- )

References

External links

Official website

Sibley Music Library digital collections
{{authority control Libraries in New York (state) University of Rochester University and college academic libraries in the United States Music libraries in the United States Educational buildings in Rochester, New York Library buildings completed in 1937 Library buildings completed in 1989 Music organizations based in the United States