Our collections
We hold Sweden’s largest range of materials in music, theatre and dance. Browse our extensive collections of sheet music, play scripts, biographies and hundreds of journals.
Sheet music
Our large music collection includes everything from opera arias to heavy metal; with sheet music for beginners as well as professional musicians. Here you will find a wide range of chamber music, over 6,000 complete works for symphony and wind orchestra as well as original manuscripts and handwritten scores. The oldest item in our collection is a leaf of church music from the 1150s.
Books and literature
Our book collection covers a wide range of topics, including:
- theatre history, dramaturgy, directing, costume design, set design and choreography
- music history, genres, pedagogy, technology and musicology
- essays and biographies of musicians, actors, composers, directors and dancers
The library holds more than 120,000 titles.
Play scripts
We have more than 40,000 play scripts, spanning over 2,000 years of theatre history.
The collection includes handwritten manuscripts by authors such as August Strindberg and Suzanne Osten, as well as newly written plays from around the world.
In the archives
Our archives hold everything from medieval parchment and paper documents to modern digital files in various formats.
You will find:
- Personal archives of actors, musicians, composers and other performing artists
- Organisational archives from both historical and active institutions
Photographic collection
Our photo archive spans from the 19th century to the present day. It includes:
- portraits of people active in music, theatre and dance
- images from performances and events
- documentary photography and art with musical themes
You can search for photographs in the RIDIM database.
You can also view selected photos from our collection on Wikimedia Commons, including role portraits, scanned glass negatives and performance images.
Letter collections
Our letter archive contains over 20,000 letters written by musicians, artists and actors.
Explore their lives and work in their own words.
The Letter Catalogue is a digitised version of the library’s old card index and includes around 15,000 letters.
Newspaper clipping collection
This collection includes:
- biographical clippings
- reviews and interviews
- articles about music, theatre and dance
The material comes mainly from Swedish newspapers, dating from the mid-1800s onwards.
Programme collection
Our programmes come mainly from Swedish theatres and concert halls, but also include:
- dance performances
- amateur theatre
- revues, circus, puppetry and mime
The collection dates from the mid-1800s and is continuously growing.
Poster collection
We collect posters from Swedish theatres and theatre companies, dating from the mid-1800s to today. Most Swedish theatres are represented, and the collection continues to grow.
Journals and magazines
We subscribe to over 250 journals covering:
- theatre, music genres, instruments, recordings, opera and ballet
- everything from niche publications to peer-reviewed journals – from the Dalarnas Country Music Club magazine to the latest issue of Wire
Reference works and catalogues
Our reference collection includes:
- encyclopaedias and subject-specific dictionaries in music, theatre and dance
- thematic catalogues of composers’ works
- bibliographies, biographies and discographies
Databases and catalogues
Use our catalogues and search services to find materials in our collections.