SPECIAL COLLECTIONS IN THE BERGEN PUBLIC LIBRARYAuthor(s): Siren SteenSource: Fontes Artis Musicae, Vol. 57, No. 3, Special Topic: Public Libraries (July-September2010), pp. 275-279Published by: International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres(IAML)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23512147 .

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SPECIAL COLLECTIONS IN THE BERGEN PUBLIC LIBRARY

Siren Steen1

English Abstract

Many public libraries have special collections: local books, photos, historical material, locally pro duced music etc. This is a natural part of the public library's task. Fewer public libraries have spe cial collections of national importance; such collections are normally placed in the national institu tions. The stories of why a public library is entitled to take care of a special collection can be interesting, but they are almost always linked up to the donators connection to the venue. This ar

ticle will focus on some of the aspects a public library will face when they are in charge of national collections.

French Abstract

De nombreuses bibliothèques publiques possèdent des collections spéciales: que ce soit des livres écrits par des auteurs locaux, des photographies, du matériel à valeur historique, de la musique

produite localement, etc. cela fait partie des missions habituelles des bibliothèques ; il est moins courant qu'une bibliothèque publique conserve des collections spéciales d'intérêt national, puisque de telles collections sont en principe conservées au sein d'institutions nationales. Il est intéressant

de se demander quelles raisons légitiment la conservation d'une collection spéciale au sein d'une

bibliothèque publique, mais ces raisons sont presque toujours liées à l'histoire de la collection et à ses donateurs. Cet article se concentrera sur certains aspects auxquels une bibliothèque publique

doit faire face lorsqu'elle a pour mission de conserver une collection nationale.

German Abstract

Zahlreiche Öffentliche Bibliotheken verfügen über Sonderbestände: Sammlungen von Werken mit

Lokalbezug, Fotos, Materialien zur lokalen Geschichte, Musik aus örtlicher Produktion usw. Sie

gehören zum Sammelauftrag Öffentlicher Bibliotheken. Einige wenige Öffentliche Bibliotheken haben Sondersammlungen von nationaler Bedeutung. Die Antwort auf die Frage, warum eine

Öffentliche Bibliothek über eine derartige Sondersammlung verfügt, kann sehr interessant sein

und wird in der Regel mit dem Bezug des Stifters zur Einrichtung zu tun haben. Dieser Aufsatz

beschäftigt sich mit den besonderen Auswirkungen, die Bestände nationalen Ranges auf eine

Öffentliche Bibliothek haben.

When a school class visits the Bergen Public Library with an agenda to hear about an

archive, not all the students are very interested! As a start I often show them the manu

script to our national anthem "Ja vi elsker". I love to watch their faces when they realize

what they are seeing. "Is this for real"? Have I hooked some presumably uninterested

pupils onto the wonderful world of the library this way?

1. Siren Steen is Music Librarian at the Bergen Public Library. Bergen, Norway. She is the author of Finn

musikken, editor of the Norsk pop og rock leksikon, and head of IAML (Norway).

275

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276 FONTES ARTIS MUSICAE 57/3

All public libraries have some kind of special collections - usually this is locally produced material within all types of media: printed, drawn, sound recordings, ephemera, and the most common: photographic collections. Collecting and curating collections like this is a natural part of the public library's tasks. These collections can also be an impor tant source for future historians and archivists to find the first traces of a person or an event that has come to be of broad interest.

Fewer public libraries have special collections of national importance; such collections are normally placed in national institutions. Why do some artists, scientists, or companies want the local public library to take hand of their spiritual or historical heritage? The an swer is as diverse as the various collections itself, it is even not always the persons con nection to the place that is the decisive factor, although this is the most common reason.

Many people have given their artistic heritage to a public library because they feel that the national institutions or the capital of their home country have never recognised them.

In this article I will focus on some aspects a public library faces when they are in charge of valuable national collections, using my own library as an example.

The Grieg Archives

In 1906, 10 months before his death, the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg added a codicil to his will. He wanted to give his music manuscripts, articles and letters, printed music, books, and other material to Bergen Public Library on condition that it would be

preserved and easily accessible to the public in the future.

f

ILLUSTRATION 1 Edward Grieg

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SPECIAL COLLECTIONS IN THE BERGEN PUBLIC LIBRARY 277

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ILLUSTRATION 2 Testamentary letter from Edward Grieg, 1906, giving his music manu

scripts, articles and letters, printed music, books, and other material to Bergen Public Library

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278 FONTES ARTIS MUSICAE 57/3

Edvard Grieg, at this time, held a unique position in Scandinavian culture: he was a

beloved composer, he played and conducted his music all over Europe and he was a giant in Scandinavia's cultural life. Why would he let a public library have ownership of his cul

tural heritage? The answer in this case: he was a great democrat. He believed in the equal

ity that a public library offered. He had a strong wish to educate his fellow citizens musi

cally, and he wanted to expose them to the best of music. Thus his vast collection of

printed music were bound and put on the shelves for people to lend, it did not matter that

the scores had friendly dedications and musical greetings from for instance Tchaikovsky.

Grieg also created a fund that enabled the local symphony orchestra and the theatre or

chestra to employ additional musicians. Over the years the library has worked extensively with this huge collection. In 1988-89

a proposal was made for a pilot project for the digitization of the material in the Grieg Archives. The Library initiated the considerable undertaking of transferring the archive

to digital forms, thereby preserving the original documents while at the same time con

tributing to greater accessibility. The documents of the Archives are now available online,

very much in the spirit of Edvard Grieg's own wish of public 'accessibility'. See the web

site at http://www.edvardgrieg.no. Has the fact that my library holds this fabulous collection made it a better library? Yes

and no. Of course a public library will be measured by other criteria then their connection

to a national hero.

My public library is situated in the second largest city in Norway; it is de facto the sec ond largest public library in the country. In the city we have a large university, and several other colleges with large libraries as well as a county-library which initiates projects con nected to education, cooperation between libraries and projects of all kinds. They hold

specialists in computer technology and data communication, in school libraries, children's

libraries, mobile libraries, and in project management. The county library works towards local public libraries and can offer guidance with

building and maintaining smaller collection of special interest. But they lack the actual

specific competence in some fields, such as music or other topics. These professional skills would be found in specialists' environments. Still, the county library, with its focus on all categories of libraries, holds a unique position to inter-connect projects in the dif ferent libraries, and to impart knowledge between the different libraries. The regions need competence that doesn't have to travel far.

Of course we need central institutions to develop the national and international ser vices and strategies, like national databases. But, to me, a stronger regional library-focus is vital in the development of modern libraries. And a public library in a region with a spe cial collection can be a source of competence.

Working with material in the borderland between museums, libraries and archives of fer a great opportunity to create living structures between institutions that not always work together. It gives the opportunity to draw on each others experiences on so many as

pects: from storage of sensitive material, computer technology, displaying material both

physically and virtual, cataloguing, exchange staff - it can give a boost to a collaboration that not always is first choice for any of the involved parts.

In the case of my public library, the work with the Grieg Archives has given many benefits. First of all the expertise built through many years has established us as a part of the research environment on Norwegian music and Norwegian composers. We have a close working-relationship with the other Grieg institutions, first of all International Grieg

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SPECIAL COLLECTIONS IN THE BERGEN PUBLIC LIBRARY 279

Society and the Edvard Grieg Museum Troldhaugen. We are a steadfast and important part of this community. One major contribution we make to this environment is a fresh and open approach to communication, particularly in the use of social media (such as Facebook and Twitter) to communicate with both fellow workers and users. Our library is the first institution in Norway become a member of Flickr Commons, where pictures from two of the library's composers-archives are posted, (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ bergen_public_library/collections/)

I mention we have two composers-archives. The other major collection is material on Ole Bull, the world famous violinist and composer whose 200th year anniversary we cele brate this year. The collaboration involved in this celebration includes many cultural institutions on different levels, from the annual Menuhin competition, through concert, plays, documentaries, exposés etc. Our library participates through the website (www .olebull2010.no) where we have digitized all known musical manuscripts by Ole Bull as well as letters, photos and other known material from many different organizations.

We also have the musical heritage of the Norwegian composer Harald Saeverud (1897— 1992), and we have scores from many other local composers. We work with the Bergen Symphony Orchestra on digitizing and cataloguing their concert programmes (dating back to 1765) and we collaborate with other orchestras and bands, archives, artist's homes, and of course the National Library's special collections on scores, letters, ephemera, sound

recordings, photos, etc. On returning to the crucial question: do our special collections benefit the library?

Definitely I will say. This work adds new knowledge to our staff and has, as a result, placed us as natural participants in national projects to stake out alternative approaches to digiti zation, mediation, and preservation of national inheritance.

A national special collection in a public library can make the threshold lower for the

ordinary person to get close to material that very often is well hidden in secret vaults.

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