About the MLS

The Music Lending Scheme was established by the Canberrra Choral Society in 1965 to facilitate the borrowing and lending of music between choral and other musical groups throughout Australia. It has acted as the central point of contact for information about what music is available for loaning/borrowing between members. The MLS' main emphasis has been on vocal scores for choirs and musical theatre groups and, where information has been provided, the orchestral parts associated with such works.

As a visitor you can access a large portion of the resources. The only data you cannot access are holdings data and information about members. As a member all the information is available to you. Please contact us if you have any questions or comments. We value suggestions and critical assessments of our site. We are always delighted to receive queries about membership.

History

In the early days of the scheme, a member organisation wishing to borrow scores would consult the Music Lending Scheme catalogue to see if a published edition of a work was held by any other member. The catalogue itself contained no information about holders of editions. An entry in the catalogue signalled only that the work was held by one or more members. A member wishing to obtain the work would contact the Scheme Administrator who would provide information about the holders. All subsequent arrangements regarding the hiring and return of the scores were made between the holder and the borrower.

In the early 2000s, the scheme was taken the World Wide Web as ChoirMusicHire.Info, developed by Canberra Web Developer, Pintado Development. Now, a member could discover information about holders of scores directly from this Website in a much faster and effective way than previously. The service provided lasted more than 11 years and facilitated music sharing across the Australia. However, in 2013 it was determined the system was due for another upgrade. In 2014 the new service,at it's new home of www.musiclendingscheme.com.au was launched.

The Canberra Choral Society continues to administer the scheme for amateur choral and musical societies.