Sigma Alpha Iota

SAVING THE MUSIC Fraternity Chapters Unite to Restore Music Library I n "Saving the Music—Nebraska Style," published in the Summer 2011 issue of PAN PIPES, Xi A Province Officer Jamie Reimer reported on a remarkable rescue of much of the music library of the Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) district. Now we would like to offer a follow-up on that report, which features the story of an equally remarkable act of service by the Kappa Chapter of SAI. To recount briefly, at 11:00 p.m. on Memorial Day, May 30, 2011, a fire broke out at the district offices of the Lincoln Public School system (LPS). The building was completely destroyed. Two hundredand-fifty employees lost personal and professional items, including the loss of the historical archives of LPS. The music library also suffered severe damage from water and smoke. This extraordinary library, renowned throughout the region, contained 9,600 scores and parts for choral music, concert band, wind ensemble, full orchestra, and string orchestra works, including some that were permanently out-of-print, and thus irreplaceable. These compositions represented the best composers and works in their respective repertoire groups, and were used by LPS and other schools by 124 music teachers and the ensembles they conducted in grades K-12. There were also reference books, journals, and other materials of great use to teachers and their students. By luck and the diligent efforts of the LPS staff, just after the fire, 7,100 scores and other material were quickly packed into storage boxes, carefully labeled, and moved to the new headquarters of LPS. They remained there in storage until the following December. The plight of the LPS library was brought to the attention of Pamela Starr, faculty advisor of the Kappa chapter of SAI, by Dr. Raymond Lowther, Superintendent of Music for LPS. Might there be, he wondered, some music students interested in lending a hand in unpacking the library scores and parts from their storage pallets and shelving them according to the detailed cataloguing and labeling system on the shelves of the new library? Professor Starr passed his request on to the officers of the Kappa chapter, who agreed to place this worthy service project before the membership. The sisters of Kappa chapter enthusiastically offered their help in this project. On a chilly December afternoon, nine Kappa members (all music students at the School of Music, RESTORE continued on page 21 4 PAN PIPESSUMMER 2012 sai-national.org Above, Johanna Kennedy and Carman Psota survey their handiwork after shelving the music materials in their new home. Below, the music materials rescued from the fire were cleaned, re-packed in storage boxes, carefully labeled with composer and title information and shelving sequence codes, and stored on large container pallets.

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