The KR Sundaram Iyer Memorial Library

The K R Sundaram Iyer Memorial Library at the Music Academy Madras, has a collection of over 6000 books, journals, and research materials including manuscripts in the areas of Performing Arts — music, dance, theatre, and other related topics. This includes The Journal of the Music Academy, Annual Conference and Concerts Souvenir, books published by the Academy and publications of other leading institutions in India. There are also books in several Indian Languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Sanskrit, Hindi and a few others.

The Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) containing complete information on the Collection, Full Texts of the Music Academy Journal and the Annual Conference and Concerts Souvenir can be accessed through the Academy’s website.

Academy’s Digital Library comprises more than 300 rare books, Journal of the Music Academy 1930 -, The Annual Conference and Concerts Souvenir 1935 -, Newspaper clippings — 1920-1992, Photograph Archives — 1955-1988, special souvenirs, journals, and other publications. Patrons can access these resources by visiting the library at the Academy.

Performing arts professionals, students and research scholars not only from Chennai but also neighbouring states and abroad are making use of the library collection.

The library provides reference service to patrons by identifying and delivering appropriate materials available in the library.

The Library constantly enhances the collection by adding publications through donations and suggestions from experts in the field. Some of the major and Important acquisitions are the papers of Sangita Kalanidhi Prof P Sambamoorthy, collections of Sangita Kalanidhi Embar S Vijayaraghavachariar,Sangita Kalanidhi Vinjamuri Varadaraja Iyengar, and more recently Sangita Kalanidhi Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu.

Over several decades, the library has benefited immensely from donors such as Sri S Viswanathan, Sri R Kalidas and the family of Sangita Kalanidhi Embar S Vijayaraghavachariar. Thanks to the donations made by Smt Hemalatha Ramamani for the new infrastructure development and Sivasailam Charities towards the modernization of the library.


Library Hours: 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Monday through Saturday.
Closed on Sundays and other national and regional holidays.
Annual membership fee: Rs. 500.00
Daily usage: Rs. 50.00