History

Milestones in Conservatory Library History

• Soon after the inauguration of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1865, the Conservatory Library was established. Approximately 10,000 scores formed its core collection.

• With additional scores, reserve-shelf books, public school materials, and reference resources, the Library's collection numbered approximately 35,000 by 1940.

• In 1958, the Conservatory Library became an administrative unit of the Oberlin College Library system.

• By 1964, it had moved to quarters (now the Conservatory Library’s East Room) housed within the Conservatory's new facility designed by Minoru Yamasaki.

• In 1988, the Conservatory Library opened a new addition designed by Gunnar Birkerts and Associates that stands to the south of Warner Concert Hall. This addition nearly tripled the Library's space, although only one of the addition's two floors was fully complete at the time.

• The Conservatory Library was renovated and expanded in 2000; an elevator was installed to provide public access to the newly-completed West Wing's second floor and high density shelving was added for extensive collection growth.

• With the addition of the Kohl Building in 2010 the Conservatory Library obtained a vault for housing special collections.

• In 2015 a Special Collections reading room was constructed in the East Room of the Library. This room provides space for collection processing, including the digitization of sound and images, as well as a place to interact with special collections materials.