Library Information
Contact Information:
Paul Hoffman, Interim Music Librarian,
phoffman@bowdoin.edu
(207)725-3459
History
The Beckwith Music Library was founded by Professor Robert K. Beckwith in 1959 when funds for Collection Development & purchasing were developed. The Library was managed by Professor Beckwith until his death in 1989. A full time librarian was hired in 1993 to manage the library. In 1994 the library was fully expanded, renovated and modernized , both physically and electronically. In 1999 the miniature score collection was moved into room 107 to provide needed shelving space for the Music Library
The Music Library houses primarily the scores and sound recordings. There are approximately 12,000 scores, 3,000 cds, 5,000 lps, 100 audio cassettes, and 200 video recordings. New books about music & current music periodicals are housed in the Music Library where they remain for a year and then are moved to the Main Library for permanent housing. The Main Library houses 5,000 volumes of books about music and 50 periodical titles (bound volumes). There are 3,000 titles of choral music arranged by composer with single copies shelved together in the Music Library and multiple copies shelved in Room 101. The current reference collection is located in the Music Library, while older editions may also be found in the Main Library.
Loan Policy
The Music Library primarily serves students who major or minor in music or participate in musical ensembles, but anyone from the Bowdoin community is welcome to use the library or listen to sound recordings in the library. Scores, CDs & videos may be checked out to students, faculty and staff. LPs and laserdiscs do not circulate. Scores circulate to students for a semester, to faculty for a year, to staff for six months and to outside borrowers for two weeks. CDs circulate to students and staff for 3 days and to faculty for four months. Videos circulate to students, faculty and staff for twenty-four hours. CDs and videos do not circulate to outside borrowers.
There are three public PCs with access to the Library Gateway, Word, Music Databases, the Internet and other related programs. There is a CD-Rom workstation which houses music CD-Roms and music indexes. Individual listening stations are equipped to handle all formats of sound recordings. There also is a photocopier which for ten cents a page produces manuscript size copies (11x17) as well as the standard 81/2x11.
Course reserves are located behind the circulation desk and may be checked out for two hours for in house library use only. They do not circulate out of the library overnight. Some reserves may be available online. To locate a reserve list for a class, go into the Library Gateway and click on the Reserve List, then type in either the course name or the professor's name. Course reserves may include scores, books, tapes, CDs, LPs or videos. Faculty may find information on submitting electronic reserves on the Electronic Reserves page.