Excellence Award for Music Library

Cardiff University's Music Library has received a 2014 Excellence Award from the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (UK & Irl).

Representatives from the Library - Charity Dove, Mary Williams and Catherine Preston - were presented with the Award by Professor Jan Smaczny (Professor of Music at Queen's University, Belfast) during IAML's recent Annual Study Weekend in Cambridge.

The Award citation emphasised some of the Library's many examples of good practice: "The service was particularly commended for the very high student satisfaction level, its strong partnerships with other local collections and its open usage policy making it a valuable collection supporting all music making in Cardiff. The proactive approach to open access publishing was also commended as was the strong specialist team of staff managing the collection."

The Excellence Awards are presented every two years and acknowledge activity in music libraries which demonstrates sustained good work and good practice with the potential to be adopted and adapted by others. The nominations for this year's Awards were judged by a panel of experts from both the music and library worlds, chaired by Professor Smaczny.

The Music Library, housed next door to the Music building, is run by the University's Information Services division and provides a dedicated and extensive service to music students and staff, as well as the general public.