Briefs / Feuilletons

Forty-two versus Ten: For the Anniversary of the Hungarian National Branch

Even though Hungary actively participated in the work of IAML already in the 1970s, our national branch is officially only ten years old. The deed of foundation of the public benefit organization Zenei Könyvtárak Nemzetközi Szövetsége Magyar Nemzeti Csoport was approved by the Metropolitan Court of Budapest on 21 November 2005.

The story started in the mid-1960s, when librarian Iván Pethes, a great enthusiast of music, started regularly to attend the conferences of IAML out of both personal interest and professional calling. He acquired not only useful special knowledge, but also good friends including Vladimir Fédorov, Rita Benton, Barry S. Brook, Maria Calderisi Bryce, and Harald Heckmann. Inspired by his personal experiences he invested much energy in establishing music librarianship as a field in its own right at home as well. It is thanks to his efforts that Hungarian colleagues had become aware of IAML’s activities by the late 1960s, and came actively to participate in the Association’s work in the 1970s.

In the Eastern Block no library could directly apply for membership in any international organization. In most countries the respective IAML group was created as part of the local librarians’ association, membership in the national organisation thus also implied membership on the international level. In Hungary a curious mixed solution was introduced: in 1973 the AIBM Hungarian National Committee was established under the auspices of the National Council for Libraries and Documentation (which itself belonged to the Ministry of Culture [IAML’s official chronology registered Hungary as a new national branch as of 1971]), while the dues were paid by each member from their budget for journal acquisition, as if it simply had been the subscription fee for Fontes. This system worked fine until the fall of the socialist regime in 1989.

In this first heyday of Hungary’s IAML activities two of our colleagues served as vice-presidents of IAML: Iván Pethes from 1974 to 1977, and János Kárpáti (for two terms) from 1980 to 1986. In 1981, Budapest also hosted the annual congress under the leadership of János Kárpáti.

By the end of the 1990s, however, the situation had changed completely: state support was decisively cut, and several libraries could no longer afford to buy Fontes: the number of subscriptions was reduced from the original sixteen to eight. One had to find a new solution to maintain Hungary’s presence in IAML, and there seemed to be two options: (1) to create an international branch as part of the Association of Hungarian Librarians (Magyar Könyvtárosok Egyesülete [MKE]), or (2) to establish an independent civil society organization.

I discussed the first option with the then leaders of MKE, but unfortunately no viable solution was found to allow us to stay active both on the national and the international level. In order to realise the second option, and establish a new organisation, I first had to convince the heads of ten music collections about the importance of IAML membership. This, however, proved the easier part—persuading the directors of the respective libraries was a far greater challenge. By 2005, we succeeded in forming a group of ten interested institutions, which were ready to assume the responsibilities associated with IAML membership (Founding members: Csorba Győző Megyei Könyvtár, Pécs; Fővárosi Szabó Ervin Könyvtár, Budapest; II. Rákóczi Ferenc Megyei Könyvtár, Miskolc; Debreceni Egyetem Egyetemi és Nemzeti Könyvtár, Debrecen; Liszt Ferenc Zeneakadémia Könyvtára, Budapest; Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Zenetudományi Intézete, Budapest; Országos Idegennyelvű Könyvtár, Budapest; Országos Széchényi Könyvtár, Budapest; Richter János Archívum, Győr; Somogyi Károly Városi és Megyei Könyvtár, Szeged. Individual members: Dr. János Kárpáti; András Székely).

To date the Hungarian National Branch has fifteen regular and three honorary members, out of which eleven institutions and one individual are also members of the international organisation...