Anton Brees Carillon Library facts for kids

The Anton Brees Carillon Library is a special library. It is located inside the beautiful Singing Tower at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida. This library holds many important collections. These collections tell the story of the Singing Tower and its gardens. They also cover the historic Pinewood Estate. Plus, you can find lots of information about carillon music and the people who play it.

History of the Library

The library was started in 1968. This was after Anton Brees passed away. He was the very first carillonneur (player of a carillon) at the Singing Tower. The library is named in his honor.

A carillon is a musical instrument. It has at least 23 bells that are tuned to play different notes. A carillonneur plays this instrument using a special keyboard.

The Bok Tower was built in 1929. It came with amazing gardens and its unique Singing Tower carillon. Edward W. Bok created the Bok Tower and its gardens. He first wanted it to be a bird sanctuary.

The Anton Brees Library was created later. For various reasons, visitors are not allowed inside the library itself. However, you can find historical materials from the library online. You can also visit the collections in person by making an appointment.

In 1971, Professor Stephen Fry helped organize the library's collection. He was a Music Librarian Consultant.

In 2013, the library received a special grant. This grant helped them organize and describe many hidden collections. The library wanted more people to work there. They also wanted to make their collections easier for everyone to find and use.

This grant also included the archives of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA). These archives have been kept at Bok Tower Gardens since 1993. The grant helped the library hire a special projects assistant. This person helped organize and protect the materials. They also moved some items from the GCNA archives to the Anton Brees Carillon Library.

During this work, they found many interesting things. They created guides to help people find information. These guides cover carillons in North America and other countries. They also list famous carillonneurs and bell foundries. The grant work continued until 2016.

What the Library Holds

The Anton Brees Carillon Library is on the fifth floor of the Singing Tower. It has one of the largest collections of carillon-related materials in the world.

Even though it's not huge, with about 1,500 books, it's special. It's unique because of all the different kinds of things it holds. Besides books, the library has 900 volumes of journals. These journals cover different parts of carillon art and related topics.

Most importantly, the library has over 3,000 musical scores. These are pieces of music written especially for the carillon. The library also has 3,000 audio and video recordings. You can find music for keyboard instruments too. There are also many documents about carillon concerts and biographies of carillon players. Finally, the library includes information about carillons in North America and other countries. It also has details about famous carillon players and bell foundries.

Collections Inside

The library is home to several different collections. These include:

• The ABCL vertical files
• The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America archives
• The Ronald Barnes collection
• The Anton Brees collection
• The Sidney Giles collection
• The Arthur Bigelow collection

The library is also building a digital archive. This means you can access scanned papers, photos, and other items online. This makes it easier for researchers to find what they need.

The Singing Tower also has the Chao Research Center archives. This center includes four more collections:

• The Nellie Lee Bok collection (manuscripts and letters)
• The American Foundation collection
• The Edward Bok newspaper scrapbook collection
• The Pinewood Estate collections

Images for kids

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  The Bok Tower, home of the Anton Brees carillon library.

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  Carillon bells