IAML Congress 2018 General Assembly

Tuesday 24 July and Friday 27 July
Leipzig, Germany
Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Concert Hall

DRAFT

1. Welcome and Apologies

The President, Stanisław Hrabia, welcomed everybody to the General Assembly. A special warm welcome was given to the many first-time attendees. There was an unusually large number of newcomers this year. He said that he felt honoured to chair the General Assembly for the first time and paid his respect to the five Past Presidents present in the auditorium: Maria Calderisi, Barbara Dobbs Mackenzie, Massimo Gentili-Tedeschi, John Roberts, and Martie Severt. The system of voting for registered individual members and institutional representatives was explained.

2. Matters arising from the minutes of the 2017 General Assembly in Riga

There were no matters arising from the minutes of the 2017 General Assembly in Riga. The minutes were unanimously approved.

3. President’s report

The President presented the following report:

“Since the congress in Riga, I have participated in several international conferences.

I was invited by IAML-Brazil to participate in the 4th Congress of RIdIM-Brazil and the 2nd Congress of IAML-Brazil, 17–21 July 2017, in Salvador, where I presented a paper ‘Cataloguing Through Cooperation: The Role of Music Librarians in Creating a National Union Catalogue’. The congress had been organised under the leadership of Pablo Sotuyo Blanco, the chair of RIdIM-Brazil. I had a chance to meet and talk to people from different libraries and academic institutions. I also took part in a working meeting of the IAML Branch of Brazil, chaired by the President of the Brazilian Branch, Beatriz Magalhães Castro.

I have also participated in a conference in Athens. I was invited to the 2nd Conference of the Greek IAML Branch, in the Athens Conservatoire, 27–28 April 2018. I presented, as the keynote speaker, a paper on the topic: ‘Seize the Opportunities: Music Librarians in Today’s World of Information’. Athens has become the World Book Capital for 2018. This conference took place just before the official opening of this celebration; and thanks to the great efforts of colleagues from the Greek Branch—Alexandros Charkiolakis, President, and Stephanie Merakos, Vice President—my visit was associated with this occasion and sponsored by the Polish Embassy in Greece.

I am very grateful for both invitations—to Salvador and to Athens. It was a great opportunity to strengthen relations between “big IAML” and the national branches, and for learning more about local efforts and achievements. Thank you very much.

I also had a unique opportunity to represent IAML at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress (22–23 August 2017) in Wrocław, Poland, where I met some IAML colleagues: Anders Cato, Massimo Gentili-Tedeschi, Katre Riisalu, and Anna J. Shelmer-dine. I officially represented IAML in two meetings of the representatives of the national, international, and professional library associations: the Association Members Meeting and the IFLA General Assembly.

All these meetings were very inspiring and gave me a new perspective on international activity.

Another important event, The International Music Forum of Six Societies ICTM–SEM– IMS–IAML–IASPM–ATMC (Association for Traditional Music in China) on the topic ‘Approaches to Research on Music and Dance in the Internet Era’, took place in Beijing at the Central Conservatory of Music, 11–14 July 2018. After a very successful joint meeting of three societies—IMS, IAML, and ICTM—in Abu Dhabi in March 2017 on the topic ‘Music as Cultural Heritage’, this was yet another event that connects representatives of various music organisations. IAML was represented by sixteen delegates, who presented ten papers and participated in a panel discussion devoted to the four “R” Projects. Besides presenting papers relevant to the main conference topic, it was a great occasion to present IAML as an organisation, and to underline the importance of music libraries, archives, and documentation centres for research, education, preservation of musical heritage, and dissemination of information.

As a part of our collaboration with the European Music Council, I have submitted the consultation form of the European Agenda for Music, the document developed out of a continent-wide consultation launched by EMC...