Tony is one of the directors of the CYM Library, based in Crouch End, London:
The C Y M Library – a national resource
. . . where you can find the printed scores you need for the next performance by your choir, orchestra or wind band. If you haven’t yet decided on the programme, browsing through our catalogues (accessible through our website – www.cymlibrary.org.uk) -will give you lots of ideas.
We lend sets of scores to amateur choirs, orchestras, opera groups and bands throughout the UK and even farther afield. The sections of the Library which are used most are the vocal scores of about 350 major choral works, 800 sets of orchestral parts and 800 wind band sets. Together these cover a very large part of the standard orchestral and choral classical music repertoire and a wide selection of concert band music.
We make a small hire charge: for instance, a choir borrowing 60 copies of the Messiah would be charged £15 a month (equivalent to 25p per copy) and an orchestra would be charged £20 a month for a full score and parts of a Beethoven Symphony. For details of our charges, see below. Where necessary, the cost of postage – generally about £10, even for a large parcel – is added.
We’re particularly keen on lending to schools, since the Library began more than a century ago when the London County Council became responsible for education in London. It was taken over by the Inner London Education Authority and, when ILEA was abolished in 1990, it became the CYM Library (CYM was short for the Centre for Young Musicians, based at Morley College in south-east London). From 1995 to March 2010, it was housed by Trinity College of Music.
The Library was then transferred to a charitable company, the Community & Youth Music Library (retaining the CYM title by which it is widely known). It is now located at Hornsey Library, Haringey Park, London N8 9JA.
How to contact the CYM Library
Email: cymlibrary@gmail.com
Telephone (Tuesdays and Fridays): 020 3602 5214
Website: http://www.cymlibrary.org.uk
Tony Lynes 