Visitor information

How to find the Music Library of Sweden

The library is situated on the fifth floor of an easily recognisable glass building on Torsgatan 19 in Stockholm. The nearest subway stop is S:t Eriksplan (there are several exits, take the one marked “S:t Eriksplan”). You can also reach S:t Eriksplan by bus (bus routes 3 and 4, see map). On the fifth floor, reached either by elevator or by stairs, you will find both the music library and Svenskt visarkiv (Centre for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research). Together, we aim to help you find the music, literature or information which you are looking for. Inquiries are handled by staff at the main desks near the entrance (map of the fifth floor).

Searching our catalogues, making reservations and loans

Statens musikbibliotek is a public library and a majority of the modern collections can be borrowed for use off the premises. In order to make a loan the music or book in question must first be requested from the stacked shelves on the third floor of the building and checked out by the staff at the main desk. Users may make reservations directly in the on-line catalogue. The staff will help you to register as a user. Please read our loan policy. If you cannot find what you are looking for in the on-line catalogue, please search our card catalogues in the reference library or contact the staff at the desk – a considerable amount of the collections have not yet been entered into the database.

The reference collections

Some reference material is kept in the public spaces of the fifth floor, and is intended for use within the library building only. Consequently, this part of our holdings – comprising periodicals, dictionaries, catalogues, thematic indices, bibliographies, complete works by major composers in full score and frequently used music anthologies – may be readily accessed at any time during the library opening hours. The most recent issues of each periodical is kept on the shelves, while previous issues may be ordered at the main desk, along with those journals which are not kept in the reference sections (all listed in the on-line catalogue). Journals and periodicals cannot be circulated outside the library premises, but separate articles or pages may be photocopied if permitted by the condition of the material in question. A card-operated copying machine is situated near the staff desk. The machine charges a price of 2 Swedish kronor / copy and copying cards may be purchased at the desk.

Internet access and databases

The fifth floor is fitted with free wireless internet access, for which service user accounts can be provided by the library staff. There are also a number of computers which may be used for searching the catalogues, databases and on-line resources provided by the Library and the Centre for Swedish Folk music and Jazz Research. One computer unit is reserved for the use of the Naxos Music Library and is equipped with earphones. Also the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and the database JSTOR, a resource providing access to articles from many international music journals in full text, can be accessed through all computers on the library premises. Searching the library catalogues takes precedence for our users, for which reason we ask you to kindly vacate the computer unit if needed for these purposes. Microsoft Office has not been installed on any of the computers.

Rare collections and other fragile material

If you need to access material from our rare collections or wish to use a secluded area for special study, we have a reading room consisting of eight study places with electric sockets for your computer. There are also four separate study rooms, which may be booked in advance (in these matters, please contact the librarian of the rare collections). Please note that rare material (manuscripts and prints which are more than hundred years old) may generally not be photocopied. Reproductions of such material are instead to be ordered at the main desk. This type of material must be handled with care and may on no account be left unsupervised in the reading room. It must therefore be temporarily returned to the staff at the main desk if you need to use the toilets situated on the fifth floor.

Listening rooms

There are two listening rooms in the public area of the library. One of them is equipped with a keyboard, the other holds audio equipment and recordings from the collections of the Centre for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research. For further information about this facility, please consult the website www.visarkiv.se.

Return of borrowed material

Outside the library opening hours, books and music can be returned at the desk of the main entrance of Bonnierhuset (the yellow brick building at Torsgatan 21, just next to the library entrance).

Further information

The premises have several public toilets, one of which is suitable for disabled persons (for further information (Swedish only) concerning accessibility and user-friendliness of our premises, see Éntre Stockholm).

If there is something which you cannot find in our catalogues, we welcome purchase suggestions – please address these to our circulation desk, and we will look into the possibilities of acquiring the material in question. Please include your contact details, in order that we may inform you whether or not the book is purchased.