Walter Gerboth Award Grant

The Walter Gerboth Award, established in 1984 by the Music Library Association, honors the legacy of Walter Gerboth, a prominent music librarian and mentor. It supports research in music and librarianship with awards up to $1,900, targeting newer MLA members and those new to research. This initiative encourages scholarly work while fostering the next generation of music librarians. The award acknowledges the contributions of Gerboth, who significantly advanced music librarianship and education.

The Walter Gerboth Award was established in 1984 by the Music Library Association in memory of its Past President and Honorary Member Walter Gerboth. Walter Gerboth was a librarian, teacher, mentor, a leader in the Music Library Association, and a pathmaker in music librarianship.  Awards are announced each year at the MLA Annual meeting.
Walter Gerboth (1925–1984) was Head of the Music Library and Professor in the Department of Music at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. He was instrumental in the development of what became the MARC format for machine readable cataloging of music. Active in MLA, Walter served as MLA President from 1969 to 1972, as a member-at-large on the board of directors, and chaired many MLA committees. Walter also created many of MLA's serial publications. The Music Cataloging Bulletin was his idea, as were the MLA Index and Bibliography Series and the MLA Newsletter.
Of the many accomplishments for which Walter was most loved and admired, among the most important was his role as a mentor, initially to individuals, but ultimately to the profession of music librarianship itself. As a result of his encouragement, many of his students at Brooklyn College became music librarians. At annual MLA meetings he always acquainted himself with the newest members and saw to it that they were given responsibilities for MLA projects and committee assignments. In recognition of his stature in the profession, Walter was posthumously awarded MLA's highest honor, the 1985 MLA Citation.
The Walter Gerboth Fund, endowed by Janice Gerboth and the contributions of hundreds of MLA members, supports the Walter Gerboth Award. Few music librarians work in institutions that encourage them to conduct research by providing release time or subsidy. The Walter Gerboth Award enables MLA to recognize promising work by its newer members (a group to which Walter Gerboth gave special encouragement) and new researchers, to support scholarship in music, music bibliography and librarianship, and to honor the memory of one of MLA's most distinguished and loved members.
Funding
An award of up to $1,900 is available this year.

Eligibility

The award is made to support research-in-progress in music or music librarianship. If an award is offered, applicants must be MLA members in good standing in order to accept. For those with an LIS degree (MLS or equivalent):You must have received your degree within the previous ten years (whether you have been working within the profession, or working independently researcher/lecturer/consultant/scholar in the LIS field); OR
You have been recently hired into your first full-time professional library position that has required research obligations and have not yet received tenure/continuing appointment (please include documentation of library and institutional criteria for promotion and tenure detailing research expectations);For those without an LIS degree:You should be employed full-time as a library staff member and be seeking support for your first research project in music or music librarianship.Eligible expenses, typical examples; all require demonstrated relevance to research project:Travel costs to conduct: research at libraries, archives, museums, or other locations housing research material; in-person interviews; field recordings; etc.
Fees for services such as translations, transcriptions, data analysis, etc.
Supplies or services to be used specifically for the project: short-term subscription to online survey software, short-term software license, short-term audiovisual equipment rental, postage, etc.
You must be a member of this organization to apply for this award - become a member.

Ineligibility

Ineligible expenses, typical examples:Reimbursement for past activity or expenditures
Costs associated with attendance of conferences or training workshops (e.g., registration, housing, transportation)