The Grawemeyer Collection at the University of Louisville: The History of a "Living" Special Collection

Charles Grawemeyer (1912–1993) dedicated funds to the University of Louisville's Dwight Anderson Memorial Music Library that support the Grawemeyer Award in Music Composition, and created the Grawemeyer Collection, a special collection of the scores, sound recordings, and information files for the award's nominees since 1985. Over the past thirty years, this unique special collection not only grows physically every year, but has also grown in the way it is managed and used. This article provides a detailed account of these two aspects that create the rich history of this "living" special collection by describing the many successes and challenges faced by the librarians in charge of the collection, and how they dealt with issues of processing, storage, and discovery as well as the collection's current management and challenges.