Boettcher to lead national music librarians organization

Bonna Boettcher, chair of the department of archival collections and branches and head librarian of the Music Library and Sound Recordings Archives, has been elected vice president/president-elect of the Music Library Association.

Bonna Boettcher

A member of the 1,300-member association since 1989, Boettcher has served in several capacities, as executive secretary from 1996-2001 and as chair of the Legislation Committee from 1993-96 and again from 2001-04, when she became president-elect.

Her election represents a four-year commitment, as president-elect for one year, president for two and past president for another year. As president-elect, she is the primary liaison to the 11 regional chapters, overseeing the chapter grant program and the best-of-chapters competition, whose winners present papers at the group’s annual meeting in February. Also, as a member of the board of directors, she advises the organization’s president on appointments and works with the finance and investment committees.

The Music Library Association is the professional organization in the United States devoted to music librarianship and to all aspects of music materials in libraries. Founded in 1931, MLA provides a forum for study and action on issues that affect music libraries and their users. MLA and its members make significant contributions to librarianship, publishing, standards and scholarship, and the development of new information technologies. In the forefront of contemporary librarianship, MLA assures that users of music materials will be well served by their libraries.

The association publishes an electronic journal and three monograph publication series.

“Our members include not only music librarians but musicologists and others who have an academic or scholarly interest in music,” said Boettcher, who has been at BGSU since 1992.

The Legislation Committee, for example, is dealing with the current debate over the electronic transmission of digital reserve materials and is working to clarify issues surrounding educational versus entertainment uses of music, she said.

Another current topic under study is copyright law related to the preservation of sound materials.