Jeffrey Quick's Blog

Score spamming

People love to give things to libraries. These are generally things they have no use for and think the library might (as opposed to things the library could use but they couldn't, like pamphlet binders, shelf label protectors, etc.) Sometimes these things can be very nice indeed.

For awhile we were getting CD donations left outside our door, interesting stuff, by somebody we called "CD Claus". The table they were left on was stolen, and we learned that CD Claus was actually Case emeritus Dr. Michael Altschul. He still comes by, and I still call him CD Claus, even if he is Jewish.

Then there are the heartbreakers. Half a dozen times a year we get calls from people whose late husbands had 6000 classical LPs, wanting us to take them. We just don't have the space. Maybe there would be half a dozen absolutely precious items we could make space for, but to take the collection wouldn't be fair to the family or to us.

And there are the inexplicable, like the load of Scientology books. Er, Kulas MUSIC Library?? What possessed them to do that? As the Church Lady would say if she lisped, "Was it thetan?"

But the saddest donation is that of the composer who seeks immortality by entrusting his work to a library, any library. We're not talking about famous people here. We got some scores once from Ross Lee Finney's son. Now, unfortunately, nobody much cares about Finney these days, but he was very far from a non-entity, we had some of his scores already, and were happy to add them to the collection. No, I'm talking about people who self-publish something and figure that since it's free, we'd love to have it. Or to be more accurate, because it's free, we'll take it in. This is not an altruistic act. Their idea is to get the music out where people can see it. It's all about them.

The problem is that any donation costs us money. The item needs to be properly bound for preservation purposes. And it needs to be catalogued. If somebody has done it, this isn't such a big deal, but if we have to do original cataloging, it takes time, especially if the composer is obscure (as most score spammers are). CDs are even worse, because then we have a number of Obscure Composer's Obscure Pieces performed by Obscure Performers, and we need to establish authority headings for all of them. What generally happens is that we assume he's sent it to a couple dozen other libraries. the other couple dozen libraries assume the same thing, so it goes into a couple dozen backlog piles to wait until the record shows up on OCLC. And someday, some cataloger will be in training, or somebody will be bored, and actually DO the work.

And there's so little space. People aren't lining up to build us big new libraries, and when they do, they tend to forget that BOOKS are supposed to go in there, instead of fancy furniture and elegant open spaces. If we put your score on the shelf, what are we going to do when somebody wants John Adams and there's no room because Gomez Addam's sonata is sitting on that shelf?

Hey, I'm a composer; I feel your pain. Sometimes, I've added such a work. It will probably get weeded eventually. But it's a lot of expense for a small payoff. Put your scores online instead and let people download them. Don't make us have to dispose of your scores.

As you may have guessed, we just got score-spammed. We'd rather not be. But if you really absolutely insist, let me instruct you on how to improve your chances (using the just-received score as an example of what not to do)

1. Be somewhat known. When you don't show up in LC authority files, or on the Net, or in refernce works, how do we know who you are? You could be a lawyer in South Africa for all we know. (One reason I'm not naming names here...)

2. Be forthcoming about who you are with your submission. Include a vita and a cover letter, just as if you were looking for a performance, because that's why you're really doing this, isn't it? At least put a return addess on, not just your Hotmail address scribbled on the back of the manila envelope. Remember that we're not a charity; you need to convince us why it is in OUR best interest to collect your material.

3. Libraries have websites listing their personnel. Pretend you care, and find out who you're sending this to. "Acquisitions librarian" doesn't cut it, though it's nice that you've figured out that there is such a person.

4. Presentation matters. Best is to be published by somebody else, which shows at least that somebody thought you could make them money, but if you aren't, at least look commercial. And NEVER spiral or comb-bind music going to a library. Preservation departments hate that. Better to not bind at all. And if you're xeroxing, do it on the nicest paper you can find, preferably acid-free.

5. Look for what's needed. Better to send a saxophone or euphonium piece than a piano piece, and better a piano piece than a string quartet.

6. Write interesting music! If I see piano pieces that are a diatonic wash of notes, without strong ideas, I'm not too thrilled. Ditto for squeak-fart music. Webern is dead. So is Chopin. Surprise me.