The library was originally referred to as the Nancy Young Memorial Library, honoring her memory and comprising an initial donation of her personal library. Nancy was an early , influential member of one of the chapters later consolidated to form the current Hudson Mohawk Recorder Society. Subsequent substantial donations and acquisitions have increased the size of the library to 7173 cataloged pieces of music. Method and technique volumes are also included in the collection.
A data entry for every piece in the library is housed in an Access relational database. A more widely accessible list of information is exported to an Excel spreadsheet. A copy of the spreadsheet may be obtained by request from the librarian.
All individual pieces and bound collections are housed in separate folders. Each folder is assigned a 7-digit accession number with 1 as the first digit. Pieces within collections are assigned accession numbers where the first digit is a 2. Fields within each record hold information for title, composer, and in the case of pieces contained in collections, the accession number of the collection’s folder. Other fields contain codes for the number of players, parts assignments, era and seasonal classifications. Records may be filtered with the spreadsheet to produce customized lists such as all alto-alto duets by Baroque composers, or all pieces of any description by Mozart.
For those wishing to browse the holdings, a glossary of codes used to systematize descriptions may be obtained when requesting a current spreadsheet of the holdings. Use of the HMRS library is limited to members of HMRS. Items may be borrowed for personal use for a reasonable length of time.
To make arrangements to use the HMRS library contact the librarian by email at birdman329@gmail.com.
