What does a Library Director/Collection Development Librarian do?
My job is both Collection Development and the management of the Music library, as Interim Director. As Collection Development librarian, I look at our collection through a creative lens. I search for opportunities to not only collect music by composers whose works are widely recorded and performed, but also those who are lesser known. To shine the spotlight on new contemporary composers from around the world is a great privilege.
As Interim Director, I manage overall responsibilities for the library including budget, collections, and programs that support research and teaching activities. I encourage and support the staff to be the best contributors they can be. We have a great team and I am really proud of the work we are doing together.
What’s your favorite thing about the Music Library?
There are so many things I love about the Music Library but what first comes to mind are the collections. Music represents a deep form of communication and to see the gathering of our diverse history is mind-boggling in its rich complexity.
Sandi-Jo receiving antiquarian purchase of Gioachino Rossini’s original manuscripts of one of his most enduring operas, “William Tell.” Strangely, the manuscript is missing the most famous part of this opera: the overture, familiar from its ubiquitous borrowings, for example the opening theme of the Lone Ranger and in the 1948 Looney Tunes classic, “Bugs Bunny Rides Again.” Merritt Mus 795.1.667.2. Reproduced by permission of the Harvard Crimson. Photographer: Steve S. Li.
Do you have a favorite memory from your time in the Music Library?
One day years ago in the first floor work room, many of the staff members gathered to dance the Macarena! It was hilarious because we were all so different, but we had a total blast learning the dance together. I still laugh when I think about that memory!
Who are you when you aren’t at the Music Library?
When I am not working in the Library I work as a cellist. I particularly enjoy studying and performing chamber music, especially string quartets. I’ve been really lucky to play in a professional quartet called Aryaloka String Quartet and in the Kaleidoscope Trio, as well as the Kaleidoscope Chamber Ensemble, for many years, which had its debut in Lincoln Center in the early 90’s.
Where do you find comfort and strength in a scary and unknown time?
I am finding tremendous comfort in how connected my extended family is. I have four sisters and, believe it or not, I am the quietest of the bunch. We laugh a lot. My sisters, along with my many nieces and nephews, have made managing this difficult time easier. I am also fortunate to be in a long and loving marriage.
What do you love most about your work?
What I love most about my work is doing the research to discover the depth of diversity within our discipline. It will be a great challenge to make these works freely accessible. I also love the great synergy at the Music Library. We are greater than the sum of our parts!
The Aryaloka String Quartet, featuring Sandi-Jo Malmon on cello. Photograph by Susan Wilson.