Careers in Music Libraries IV ed. by Misti Shaw and Susannah Cleveland (review)

Reviewed by: Careers in Music Libraries IV ed. by Misti Shaw and Susannah Cleveland James P. Cassaro Careers in Music Libraries IV. Edited by Misti Shaw and Susannah Cleveland. (Music Library Association Technical Reports and Monographs in Music Librarianship Series, vol. 39. ) Middleton, WI: A-R Editions, 2022. x, 408 p. ISBN 9780895798930 (paperback), 125; ISBN 9780895799067 (ebook), price varies. Illustrations, bibliography, index. As I contemplated this review, the question that kept coming to mind was, Would the founders of music librarian-ship recognize the field as we know it today? The answer would probably be yes and no. Surely the basic foundations of the field remain the same, while other issues and initiatives have changed the way in which we do our work. The volume under review is the fourth iteration—not edition— of a publication that first appeared in 1990 (Carol Tatian, comp. , Careers in Music Librarianship: Perspectives from the Field, MLA Technical Reports, no. 18 Canton, MA: Music Library Association, 1990). Subsequent volumes appeared in 2004 (Paula Elliot and Linda Blair, eds. , Careers in Music Librarianship II: Traditions and Transitions, Music Library Association Technical Reports, no. 29 Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2004) and 2014 (Susannah Cleveland and Joe C. Clark, eds. , Careers in Music Librarian-ship III: Reality and Reinvention, Music Library Association Technical Reports, no. 33 Middleton, WI: A-R Editions, 2014). What differentiates these earlier publications is each publication's subtitle: Traditions and Transitions (II) and Reality and Reinvention (III). The current volume has no subtitle to whet the appetite of the reader, but does use a new title, Careers in Music Libraries, which separates it from the earlier publications. The first two emanated from the work of the Personnel Subcommittee of the Administration Committee, a now defunct part of the administrative structure of the Music Library Association (MLA). As Susannah Cleveland so elegantly stated in her preface to the third volume: In the first volume, Carol Tatian and the contributors Lenore Coral, Mary Kay Duggan, and Richard Smiraglia, among others provided an overview of the profession and the many options for the professional within it. In the second volume, Paula Elliot and Linda Blair edited a collection of essays that not only provided updates to the first, but also pointed to the passions of music librarians, demonstrating why and how this profession appeals so strongly to its members. Ten years after the completion of the second volume, this new volume is geared toward providing specific advice and guidance—a self-help of music librarianship, if you will. (Careers III, ix) In the fourth volume, editor Misti Shaw differentiates this new publication from the others in her preface: End Page 638 For the past thirty years, volumes of MLA's Careers in Music Librarian-ship have provided invaluable tools for current and future music librarians to evaluate professional choices and plan their careers. . . . Because much of that practical content from 2013 sic remains applicable today, Susannah and I were keen to oversee an update to the volume, asking those contributors to revisit their essays and revise and retool them for today's readers. (p. viii) And, indeed, several aut hors—including Misti Shaw, Joe C. Clark, and Ned Quist—have reprised or expanded their contributions from the 2014 volume. But the additional contributors to the present volume provide invaluable essays to round out the coverage of issues—new and old—that warrant our attention. The volume is arranged by individual sections devoted to a particular theme: "Exploring Work in Music Libraries, " "Preparing for Work in Music Libraries, " "Navigating the Job Search, " "Getting Started in the Profession, " "Career Decisions, " and "Opportunities for Growth. " (I very much appreciated the use of active words—"exploring, " "preparing, " and "navigating"—in the titles of the first three sections. Important emphasis is placed on the activity as much as on content. I wish the editors had continued that practice for the subsequent sections—perhaps "starting, " "deciding, " and "growing"— would have been appropriate. ) While each contribution adds to the strength of this volume, several essays can be singled out for their topic and depth of coverage. Chuck Peters's essay, "Music Technical Services Librarians and Their Influence on the Library Profession, " is. . .