Music in educationplayed is one feature of the educational work of the popular music
library. Thanks to the radio, some influence can also be exercised, for
instance, in the choice of works for a programme in honour of a parti-
cular composer. Many works now languishing on the shelves of a
library would then be rescued from undeserved neglect. Exhibitions
might also be organized in showcases in the reading rooms which are
open to the public, so as to keep alive the memory of the great masters
of music.
If these aims with regard to popular education are to be achieved,
there must be close collaboration between the libraries and schools of
music. The music library of Charlottenburg, in Berlin, in fact has its
own school of popular music, whose head is Herbert Schermall. It
would seem, however, that the formation of an enlightened appre-
ciation of music can most easily be achieved in the adult education
colleges, which organize well-attended courses in music on a very
wide variety of subjects. By arranging lectures or discussion groups in
these colleges, librarians who have had a proper musical training can
make a contribution to the great work of popular education and thus
introduce more and more music-lovers to this new form of musical life.
Nevertheless, the finest and most important function of a popular
music library is to provide an enduring and vital rallying-point for the
musical public in the broadest sense of the term. The universal guiding
principle which in the opinion of its founder, Paul Marsop, should
inspire the organization of a popular music library, is to encourage the
rising generation in its search by giving it advice, help and education.
The practice of music by young people is the most important factor in
the renaissance of musical culture, and the surest path to this goal is to
teach the young to play chamber music in their own homes. One of
the most important tasks to be done is therefore to help them to get
together and form instrumental and choral groups.
The main idea which emerges from this brief statement is that of
giving guidance and advice on all problems connected with music
education. This is the sense in which the nature and function of a popular
music library should be conceived. We may thus say that such a library
is the essential means to music education in general. Its special character
is to pursue musical aims while at the same time striving to promote
popular education, and that is why it seeks to gain the support of all
sections of the population susceptible to the influence of music. It is not
a museum library with books and scores deep in dust on its shelves but
an open door through which to reach the people, a living guarantee of
the achievement of a new popular culture. For that very reason, it has