We Give Thanks For Music

The Iowa City Public Library is pleased to welcome The Rita Benton Music Library’s exhibit, "We Give Thanks for Music: an A-Z list" to the library this November.

The fantastic display with all of the 26 musical concepts is located in the large display case outside of the Children’s Room at the Iowa City Public Library, 123. S. Linn St. The display fits in well with ICPL’s nine month initiative, Music is The Word, which aims to offer music-related programming initiated by the Iowa City Public Library, in partnership with other Iowa City entities, to welcome and introduce the University of Iowa School of Music to downtown Iowa City. Weekly programming will run from September 2015 through May 2016 at the library, unless noted otherwise. The focus will be all things musical and will include performance events for all ages and tastes, as well as non-performance, music related programs, displays and exhibits.

Katie Buehner, Head of UI Music Library says it was hard to pick just one or two reasons to be thankful for music, so they chose 26 musical concepts, instruments, styles, genres, and ensembles (one for each letter of the alphabet) to represent a portion of what makes music great.

"I wanted to share a little bit of everything from our collection - books, scores, recordings - but with some local flavor sprinkled throughout. Several objects highlight the School of Music's history, and the exhibit contains sheet music selections that hail from Cedar Rapids and radio station WHO."
There are several items with strong ties to Iowa City and the University of Iowa's School of Music, including recordings by jazz ensemble Johnson County Landmark, an opera by Iowa professors Philip Bezanson and Paul Engle, and some locally produced vinyl records. Several items from the Music Library's rare book and score collection are highlighted, as well as early 20th song collections from WHO in Des Moines and ukulele clubs in Cedar Rapids.

This is an exciting year for the Music Library because in just nine months, the University of Iowa Music Library will move into the new Voxman Music Building on the corner of Burlington and Clinton in downtown Iowa City.

To see a list and full detail of all the display concepts visit their website at: http://guides.lib.uiowa.edu/exhibit-givethanksformusic and for an up-to-date look at the ICPL’s Music is the Word events, visit our online calendar at:  http://www.icpl.org/mitw .