Eva Judd O'Meara (1884–1979) was an American

music librarian Music librarianship is the area of librarianship that pertains to music collections and their development, cataloging, Preservation (library and archival science), preservation and maintenance, as well as Reference#Libraries, reference issues connec ...

and bibliographer. O’Meara headed the Music Library at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

from its inception in 1917 until her retirement in 1952. O'Meara was one of the founding members of the

Music Library Association The Music Library Association (MLA) of the United States is the main professional organization for music libraries and librarians (including those whose music materials form only part of their responsibilities and collections). It also serves corpo ...

(MLA) and was the founding editor of

Notes Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * Notes (album), ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) sho ...

. O'Meara learned her craft through work experience, "first in public libraries in Connecticut (1905–8), then at McGill University Library (1908–11), and as a cataloger for a private library (1911–13)." The Eva Judd O'Meara Award, first given in 1979, was established by the MLA to recognize the best review in ''Notes.'' A few weeks before her death in 1979, she spoke to a conference of music librarians at a meeting of the New England Music Library Association. At this meeting she recalled a story of how she acquired the Music Library's most prized possession, the '' Clavier-Büchlein vor

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (22 November 17101 July 1784), the second child and eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach, was a German composer and performer. Despite his acknowledged genius as an organist, improviser and composer ...

'' (1720), a book-length manuscript that

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

wrote for the education of his ten-year-old son.

References

Music librarians American librarians American women librarians 1884 births 1979 deaths American bibliographers Women bibliographers {{US-academic-bio-stub