Music and Dance Collections

The library contains a wide variety of materials to support study and research. For music, the collections emphasize the art (or “classical”) traditions of Western Europe and the United States, American jazz and music theatre, and musics of non-European origin, primarily of Africa and Asia. Native American, folk, rock, and other popular genres are also represented. For dance, coverage is primarily of ballet, modern, and jazz.

The collections include the following materials at these classifications and locations:

  • Books on music: ML (history and literature) and MT (theory, analysis, education) (Location: General Stacks)
  • Books on dance: GV (Location: General Stacks)
  • Music scores: M; Editions for research and performance, including vocal and choral music, instrumental solos and chamber ensembles, and large instrumental works (Location: Scores)
  • Textbooks: LT; K-8 series in music education; teacher and student editions and supporting materials  (Location: Textbooks)
  • Periodicals: Alphabetical by title. Bound volumes in Periodicals stacks; recent issues in Current Periodicals (Location: Periodicals)
  • Newsletters/Newspapers: Recent issues in Current Periodicals; back issues in Periodicals stacks, after Z (uncataloged)
  • Reference: General and specialized dictionaries, encyclopedias, indexes, bibliographies, discographies, and more  (Location: Reference)
  • Audio Recordings: CDs, LP records, cassettes (Request at circulation desk by call number)
  • Video Recordings: Videocassettes and DVDs (Request at circulation desk by call number)
  • Electronic resources: Indexes, reference and research tools, and other databases; streaming audio services

Special Collections and Archives

These collections are available for in-library use.

  • Sheet Music: primarily American popular and sacred songs from the late 1800s through the 1970s; some piano music (Locate using title index in the card catalog)
  • Graduate Research Projects: primarily in music education  (Locate in WestCat and request at the circulation desk)
  • WMU School of Music Performance Archives: selected performances from the School of Music from the mid-1970s to the present (Locate in WestCat and request at the circulation desk by call number)

For information about the use of these archives, contact the librarian.

  • Great Lakes Region of the American Music Therapy Association: Documents and publications from the regional chapter of AMTA.
  • International Trumpet Guild: Official publications, recordings, scores, and other documents related to ITG's history and activities.