Sheet Music Collections

Milwaukee Public Library is home to many sheet music collections.

Historical Sheet Music Collection

Historical Sheet Music Collection Index

The Historical Sheet Music Collection at the Milwaukee Public Library is comprised of tens of thousands of individual song sheets, mainly for piano and voice, and dating from the mid-1800’s through the 1950’s.

WTMJ Sheet Music Collection

WTMJ Sheet Music Collection Index

Acquired by the Milwaukee Public Library in April 1966, the WTMJ Sheet Music Collection features more than 12,000 pieces of band music from a bygone age.  Comprised mostly of World War I and World War II era popular songs, the collection includes parts for piano, band and orchestral instruments.

Schaum Music Collection

The Schaum Music Collection is comprised of nearly 100,000 songbooks, scores, instructional books and song sheets. Named in honor of John W. Schaum, a Milwaukee born pianist, composer, music educator and publisher, this collection was donated to the Milwaukee Public Library by his son, Wesley Schaum.  There is no digital index to this collection.

Using the Collections

Sheet Music Collections can be viewed in the Frank P. Zeidler Humanities Room. For more information on these collections, please contact us at ask.mpl.org.