About the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
020 7485 2206 | library@efdss.org
Open Tues-Fri 09.30 to 17.30, first and third Saturdays each month (except August), 10:00 to 16:00. The Sound Library is closed 12.00 to 14.00 every day.
The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library (VWML) is England’s national folk music and dance archive, a one stop shop for anybody interested in the folk arts - 'the most important concentration of material on traditional song, dance and music in the country' (A Dictionary of English Folklore)
The library contains books, pamphlets, periodicals, press cuttings, broadsides, paintings, photographs, slides, artefacts, records, reel-to-reel tapes, phonograph cylinders, videos, cine films, compact discs, and audio cassettes - and more!
The VWML is an MLA-Designated collection.
More about the MLA Designation Scheme.
List of all Designated Collections [pdf, 5Mb]
How to access the library
**Sound and audio visual collections temporarily unavailable**
From Monday 20 May until Tuesday 24 September the sound and audio visual collections in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library will be unavailable. Thus is due to major building works, including the installation of a lift, at Cecil Sharp House from June – September 2013. More info
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Access to VWML is free to members of the EFDSS who may also borrow some of the materials (UK only). If you can't make it to the library, we also welcome phone, email and postal enquiries. We ask non-members to pay a small fee (£3.50) for library access, whether in person or via enquiry.
The Sound Library operates an appointment system to ensure fair access to all visitors. Please call in advance to book (020 7485 2206).
Online access
Some of the library's collections can also be accessed online for free, by members and non-members alike.
We are working to make more of our collection available online, with the help of our members' subscriptions and generous donations and funding. We are currently working on transcribing Cecil Sharp's diaries for improved online access.
Funding
VWML is funded and maintained by the English Folk Dance and Song Society, with additional support from the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust, the National Folk Music Fund and many individual members and clubs. In recent years we have received support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England.
If you would like to help support the Library you could join the EFDSS, finance a project, publication or event, buy a book or sound recording, donate or bequeath funds or material to the Library, donate or bequeath funds to the National Folk Music Fund.
Institutional Subscriptions
For educational institutions, business and media organisations, VWML runs an institutional subscription scheme whereby their students/employees have free access. Contact us for details.
