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 and maintenance, as well as reference issues connected with musical works and music literature. Music librarians ofte ...

and bibliographer. O’Meara headed the Music Library at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

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 cor ...

(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), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened versi ...

. 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) was a German composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was the second child and eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach. Despite his acknowledged genius as an improviser ...

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

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

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