ABSTRACT
In 2001, the UK Branch of International Association of Music Libraries (IAML)(UK) had 254 members, a mixture of institutional and personal, some with international membership, others national membership. Jack Dove, describing IAML(UK)'s work, included the three objectives which the Association agreed at its inaugural meeting: 'to provide a platform for the discussion of all matters affecting music libraries, to stimulate interest in music bibliography, and to encourage co-operation in all branches of musical librarianship'. By 1990, IAML(UK) had become more and more convinced of the need for more co-operation. Self-sufficiency, whether in individual academic or public libraries or in regional authorities, had been increasingly tested and called into question during the 1980s, a trend which shows no signs of retreating. The need for a wide vision has always been central in IAML's activities, and as globalization affects so many previously stable musical institutions, the need for a vision not just nationally but internationally becomes an ever growing imperative.
