Special collections in the Music Division consist of the papers of individuals, companies, and collectors significant to research in music, theater, and dance. Special collections materials include correspondence, notebooks, diaries, financial ledgers, scrapbooks, newspaper or magazine clippings, photographs, negatives, printed or handwritten music, programs, scripts, publicity material, and artwork.

Find materials in special collections relevant to film music using the Finding Aids Tool or by browsing the Music Division's list of Special Collections. Collections with no finding aids or other guides are described by brief catalog records in the Online Catalog. The links provided on this page are to both finding aids and catalog records.

Some examples are: 

• Howard Ashman papers
• Irwin Bazelon collection
• Irving Berlin collection
• Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco papers
• Aaron Copland collection
• Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon collection
• George and Ira Gershwin collection
• Morton Gould papers
• Marvin Hamlisch papers
• Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine collection
• Erich Wolfgang Korngold collection 
• Henry Mancini papers
• David Raksin Collection
• Richard Robbins collection 
• Winston Sharples music manuscripts

Contact us through Ask-A-Librarian if you have trouble locating a specific collection or item.  

Performing Arts Reading Room 

The Music Division holds over five hundred named special collections in music, theater, and dance. Collections vary in size from fewer than a dozen items to more than half a million. Many of these collections are processed and have finding aids online. Others are in varying stages of processing and may have guides, inventories, or print finding aids available on-site. Collections with no finding aids or other guides are described by catalog records in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links are provided in this list of special collections to both finding aids and catalog records.

Some collections are housed off-site and require advance notice to retrieve. Contact us through Ask-A-Librarian if you have questions about researching a specific collection.

Other Library of Congress Research Centers

Collections with materials relevant to film music may exist in several divisions within the Library of Congress. Search across multiple divisions' finding aids using theLibrary's Finding Aids Tool.