Access the music collection

You can access the music collection both in the Library and online, and you can order your own copies through our Copies Direct service. Due to the unique and fragile nature of the collection many items are not available for interlibrary loan.

In the Library

The music collection can be accessed in the Special Collections Reading Room.

You can request music via the online catalogue using your National Library login - if you don’t have a National Library login you can Join Us online. For more information about searching our online catalogue, please see: Searching for music.

The material you request will be delivered to the reading room according to the collection delivery times.

A keyboard is available for use in the Special Collections Reading Room. To arrange access, please enquire at the Special Collections Reading Room or contact us ahead of your visit.

Online

Over 14,000 scores from the Library's collection have been digitised and made freely available online.

To find the digitised scores, visit our online catalogue, type in your keywords (such as the title of the score) and use the “Format - Music” and “Access - National Library (digitised item)” filters to narrow your results.

Please see Searching for music for more information about searching the catalogue.

Copies Direct

You may be able to order copies of items from the Library's music collection copy using our Copies Direct service. Please see Copies Direct for more information about costs, delivery methods and copyright restrictions.