As has been widely distributed on social media, Kilgore College is reducing the amount of material that is stored in its music library. We’ve seen the concerns online about the disposal of music materials and regret that many people equated this to the devaluing of music and fine arts at Kilgore College. This is simply not true. KC continues, and will continue to, value the importance of music and fine arts education with continued enhancements and increased funding for fine arts programs.
The college is not eliminating its music library nor is it reducing or eliminating any of its fine arts programs. In fact, the music library is growing due to access to digital sheet music. The majority of these pieces of older sheet music, CDs, or albums that were discarded have been in storage for a number of years – many were left over from the old radio station or KC library – and were no longer of use to the college or the music department due to the inception of new technology.
The fine arts department has been sorting through the collection this past year and has maintained a great deal of music, but from time to time, these inventories need to be reduced to allow for the addition of new materials, new technologies, and new programs.
With large recent investments to fine arts programs, these programs will continue to grow at KC. Just this year, the KC Board of Trustees approved an additional $100,000 for band scholarships, new state-of-the-art lighting for Van Cliburn Auditorium and is in the process of vast improvements to the Anne Dean Turk Fine Arts Center. The KC Choir was also awarded an Innovation Grant in April by the KC Board of Trustees to purchase iPads to allow our choirs to move to digital music.
KC wants to make it clear that it’s proud of the dedicated music faculty, talented students, and generous patrons and supporters over the years that have left such an amazing legacy.
Thank you for your support as we innovate and expand opportunities for the fine arts students at Kilgore College.