The region’s musical heritage is safe.
Fears over the Huddersfield-based Yorkshire Music Library, which holds hundreds of thousands of musical scores, rose after the collapse of the company which ran it.
But now the prestigious music library of 300,000 musical scores jointly owned by local authorities across Yorkshire and the Humber is to be moved to a new home in Leeds Central Library after the closure of a social enterprise which had managed the collection.
The Yorkshire Music Library was previously administered by Fresh Horizons, a social enterprise in Huddersfield, before they ceased operations last month, with the loss of dozens of jobs.
The Music Library was housed in premises at Red Doles Lane and is one of the largest set collections in the UK. It provides a wealth of materials for choirs and orchestras across the country.
Following the collapse of Fresh Horizons, there were fears that the Library could be lost if a new host could not be found, and discussions have been ongoing with chief librarians across the region to discuss the options available.
Leeds City Council has now come to the rescue and agreed that the collection will be made available through the authority’s Music and Performing Arts Library.
It is expected that it will take a couple of months to fully establish the service, with existing requests hoping to be honoured within weeks. Staff will also be contacting customers as soon as they are in a positon to accept new orders.
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Clr Debra Coupar, Leeds City Council’s executive member for communities, said: “It is fantastic news that we have been able to reach an agreement which will mean the Yorkshire Music Library’s vast and prestigious collection will be moving to a new home at Leeds Libraries.
“We have worked very closely with library partners from across the region to explore how the Yorkshire Music Library could be reopened, and I would like to thank them for both their help and support on this issue.”
Taxpayers in Kirklees and Calderdale were left to foot a £600,000 bill for the failure of Fresh Horizons.
But a Huddersfield community centre managed by the bankrupt social enterprise is to be saved.
Deighton’s Chestnut Centre, which was managed by Fresh Horizons, will continue to run as normal for the foreseeable future following the establishment of a new company.
Fresh Horizons was a facilities management company that ran 14 buildings mainly in the Deighton, Brackenhall and Leeds Road areas such as the Chestnut Centre, Northfield Hall community centre, Ingfield Enterprise Centre, Fartown Village Hall, Cowlersley Community Centre and Community House on Leeds Road along with nurseries at Community House and the Chestnut Centre.
