INSTRUMENT LIBRARIES HELP SPREAD MUSIC
As the cost of music education continues to rise, instrument lending programs across Waterloo Region are helping remove financial and logistical barriers for families, students, and schools.
Local nonprofit organizations operate instrument lending programs aimed at improving access to music education, particularly for children and youth. One program is Bandology, a program that enriches the music experience of kids and teens through performance opportunities. The Kitchener Public Library (KPL) also runs their music library program, where library members can sign out an instrument using their library card.
Juliana Rutledge, the Innovation Manager and Head of Operations at Bandology, said instrument libraries play a crucial role in helping young people who may not otherwise be able to participate in music programs.
“Music libraries are really important because they level the playing field for a lot of kids and the whole community…in order to be able to access music and to be able to experience music education,” Rutledge said.
They also allow community members to experience new interests at low cost.
“Borrowing an instrument from the library offers people a chance to try a new creative interest without an expensive investment,” Kerri Hutchinson, Manager of Marketing and Communications at the KPL, said.
For Rutledge, the goal is simple: ensuring that cost or access never prevents someone from experiencing music.
“If you’re looking for a little more music in your life, reach out. There’s absolutely something that can be done,” she said.
Research has shown that music education is associated with enhanced academic and cognitive skills, improved social and emotional development, and positive effects on youth well-being. However, access to music programs has become increasingly difficult, as arts funding is often among the first areas cut during budget constraints.
“The arts generally are often the first to be cut when there are expense issues,” Rutledge said. “If you are looking to shrink a budget and find some light arms to cut, music is an easy one to say no to.”
Bandology’s instrument lending library was developed in 2021 and 2022 to improve access to instruments and music programs. The program officially launched after the organization received capital grants from the Ontario Trillium Foundation in 2023 and 2024, allowing the nonprofit to purchase a wide range of instruments.
Today, the library includes 77 instruments across 23 different categories, including woodwinds, brass, and large percussion instruments such as tubas, vibraphones, and timpani. The collection has also been supported by donations from community members.
“These instruments, they’re doing no good to us sitting on our shelves,” Rutledge said. “We want them to be loaned out. We want students in the community who want to make more music and are looking for a way to do that.”
Bandology’s lending program serves multiple regions, including Kitchener-Waterloo, Halton and Guelph. Rutledge said the program fills gaps for families who cannot afford instruments, as well as for schools with limited or aging collections.
“We had one school in Milton last year that was brand new, like still a dirt patch on Google Maps, and they borrowed about a dozen instruments to supplement what they didn’t have,” Rutledge said.
The organization works closely with local educators, who play a key role in connecting students with the program. Rutledge said more than half of applicants learned about the lending library through their music teachers.
“We have a network of teachers that we stay in touch with, and they definitely feel the impact of knowing that there is something to fall back on if their classroom doesn’t have whatever the item might be,” she said.
In addition to the lending library, Bandology runs annual band camps for students in grades one through twelve and offers music workshops in partnership with schools and community organizations. While the nonprofit primarily focuses on children and youth, Rutledge said it is also exploring intergenerational programming that brings different age groups together through music.
The Kitchener Public Library’s musical instrument collection shares a similar focus on accessibility through instrument lending. According to the Kitchener Public Library, instruments can be borrowed for free with a valid library card.
“The library has a musical instrument collection with 19 different instruments to choose from,” Hutchinson said. The most popular items include acoustic guitars, digital keyboards, xylophones, and bongo drums. Other available instruments include cajons, djembes, dulcimers, and doumbeks. Instruments can be borrowed for three weeks at a time, with the option to extend if there are no holds.
The collection is available at the library’s Central branch in downtown Kitchener and was created with support from Sun Life Financial. The library now maintains the collection through its operating budget and donor contributions.
Rutledge said the growth of instrument lending programs reflects a broader recognition of music’s value within communities.
“There’s more push for instrument loans through libraries and non-profits like Bandology,” she said. “More music is good for all music organizations.”
For more information, visit the KPL website or bandology.ca.
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