Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library transcript
By Evelyn Portek
The Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library has been around almost as long as the Conservatorium at the University of Melbourne. The collections date back about 100 years and provide the main resources for students studying at the Faculty of Music.
The library was named after Louise Hanson-Dyer who was a music publisher of scholarly editions and she was also a generous philanthropist to composers and musicians.
We are located at the top of the circular stairwell in the Baillieu Library and have different opening hours to the Baillieu. We are open from 8:30am to 6pm Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and from 8:30am to 7pm Tuesdays and Thursdays during semester. We have different opening hours during the summer and winter breaks.
Because the Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library primarily serves the needs of the Faculty of Music, the collections here support the teaching and research that the faculty is involved in. So the main subject areas are Western art music – or classical music – ethnomusicology, music therapy, musicology, composition and of course, instrumental and voice performance. As you would expect from a collection that started such a long time ago, it is very rich in rare, historical and contemporary materials. We have an extensive collection of music scores for solo, chamber and orchestral works. Of course there are books and journals and there is also an audio visual collection of cds, dvds, lps and videos. The recordings are predominantly western classical and ethnic musics.
There are two photocopiers and six networked computers for your use. There are also lots of cd players and lp turntables. The best way to find what sound recording you want is from the Sound Recording Database which can be accessed via our website. There are lots of other music databases including streamed music, indexes to journals and also electronic journals and books which you will be able to access.
All students and staff of the university can borrow from most of the collections here and if you’re interested in finding out more about the collections you can check out the details on the Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library website. To find the website, go to the main library website, find the drop down menu called Branches and Collections and click on Music Library. There is a useful guide to the library which you will find is the bottom link in the left column. Just about anything you might want to know about our collections and services is on our web page.
The staff here at the Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library are very experienced and friendly so if you need some assistance, come and let us know and we’ll help get you started in your search for music materials.