Staff Portrait: Jane Gottlieb

Vice President for Library and Information Resources

A true Juilliard institution, Jane Gottlieb arrived at the school in 1986 having previously been head librarian at Mannes College of Music. Born in Brooklyn—“the Brooklyn of a long time ago, not the trendy Brooklyn of today”—Jane moved with her family to East Meadow, Long Island, when she was a little over a year old. “My mother reported that one of my first acts was to run to the corner of the deserted suburban street and try to hail a taxi.” She was a music major (flute) at SUNY Binghamton (now Binghamton University), where she also “took wonderful courses in English and American literature.”

How did you come to work at Juilliard?
I responded to a New York Times ad for a new head librarian, but I knew about the library as I had done an internship here while in library school.

Did you always want to work in academia?
I wasn’t sure how best to pursue my passion for music, and after college I considered graduate degrees in either performance or musicology. At that time Columbia University’s library school (which regrettably no longer exists) had a special course sequence in music and performing arts librarianship, which also allowed me to do some musicology work in the music department. I could not have predicted how many wonderful opportunities this career choice would end up giving me!

Do you remember your first library experience?
Long Island has a terrific public library system, and I would browse through the East Meadow Public Library’s collections of music books and LP recordings. And yes, sometimes I was guilty of late returns and overdue fines: I clearly remember the LP recording of Beethoven’s third piano concerto and Choral Fantasy (on the flip side) with Rudolf Serkin that didn’t quite get returned on its due date.

Who was the teacher or mentor who most inspired you when you were growing up?
I will mention two, if I may: my high school band director, William (Bill) Katz, who just celebrated his 88th birthday with a party attended by some 200 alumni. Mr. Katz (he will always be Mr. Katz to me) instilled a musician’s love for music in so many of us. And, the late Suki Sommer, who was my teacher in library school at Columbia, taught a generation of us how to be music librarians; my book Music Library and Research Skills is dedicated to her as well as to my students.

Are you still actively pursuing music?
I no longer perform as a flutist, even for fun. While I miss it, especially playing chamber music, I know that I made the right career choice: I’m able to serve the performing arts much better by providing resources and services to the incredibly gifted students and faculty.

How would you spend a few hours of surprise free time?
Reading, walking in Riverside Park, taking the M5 bus down Fifth Avenue for a museum visit.

What are you reading/watching/listening to/following?
I’m reading soprano Bethany Beardslee’s (’50, voice) autobiography, I Sang the Unsingable: My Life in Twentieth-Century Music. She knew everyone: Jacques Monod (who was her first husband and was on the faculty), Milton Babbitt (faculty 1971–2008), and so many other mid-20th-century luminaries who were here. Having grown up with only three network television channels, I’m overwhelmed with current media choices, and have little time to watch more than an occasional treat on Netflix or my preferred cable channel, MSNBC. I’m a news junkie though: mostly The New York Times, which I absorb in any media available (phone, computer, print). And, my playlist defaults mostly to Handel/Mozart/Strauss.

If you weren’t a librarian, what would you be doing?
I probably would have gone to law school.

What do you always get asked?
Have I always been this short?