Prestigious music library to be housed in Leeds following uncertain future

A prestigious music library of 300,000 musical scores jointly owned by local authorities across Yorkshire and the Humber is to be moved to a new home in Leeds Central Library after the closure of a social enterprise which had managed the collection.

The Yorkshire Music Library, which was previously administered by Fresh Horizons in Huddersfield before they ceased operation earlier last month, is one of the largest set collections in the UK and provides a wealth of materials for choirs and orchestras across the country. Following the news that the Yorkshire Music Library could now be lost if a new host could not be found, discussions have been ongoing with chief librarians across the region to discuss the options available.

Following these talks, Leeds City Council has now come to the rescue and agreed that the collection will be made available through the authority’s Music and Performing Arts Library. It is expected that it will take a couple of months to fully establish the service, with existing requests hoping to be honoured within weeks. Staff will also be contacting customers as soon as they are in a positon to accept new orders.

As part of the plans, it is also intended that the service will be extended to make material available to other library authorities through Leeds existing inter-lending arrangements as well as postal orders.

Customers with enquiries can contact the Leeds Music & Performing Arts Library by email at MusicLibrary@leeds.gov.uk or by phone on 0113 2478273.

Councillor Debra Coupar, Leeds City Council’s executive member for communities, said:

“It is fantastic news that we have been able to reach an agreement which will mean the Yorkshire Music Library’s vast and prestigious collection will be moving to a new home at Leeds Libraries.

“We have worked very closely with library partners from across the region to explore how the Yorkshire Music Library could be reopened, and I would like to thank them for both their help and support on this issue.”

Bev Rice, Leeds City Council’s head of library and information service, said:

“It came as a great shock to us all that we could lose such an important national resource, but the staff of the Leeds Music & Performing Arts Library based in the central library have a wealth of experience in managing both the already substantial Leeds orchestral sets collection and the regional play-sets lending service and are looking forward to the new challenge.”

For media enquiries, please contact;

Colin Dickinson, Leeds City Council press office (0113) 39 51578

Email: colin.dickinson@leeds.gov.uk