Art & Music

Explore our art and music collections, as well as databases and services that you can access online for free with your library card. Visit the 5th floor of the Central Library to browse the library's most extensive collection of books on art, music, sports & recreation. You'll also find music recordings on CD and vinyl, scores, a listening station, art exhibits, and more.

Art Exhibits

Current

Cartooning Against Silence: Futile Prayers From An Undocumented Heart curated by Dr. Alberto Ledesma, May-June 2026

The Black Panther Party in Berkeley: An Archival Exhibit and 60th Anniversary Celebration curated by Billy X Jennings, February-May 2026

Recent

Roots Unveiled curated by Nimisha Doongarwal, February-March 2026

thoughts of a large red woman, chapter one, interactions. Art by Urbanrezlife, curated by Woman Who Talks A Lot, November 2025-January 2026

Senior Shine: The Golden Years curated by Jay Lotus Allen, July 2025

Transmissions Quilts: A Multimedia Exhibit of Objects, Stories, and Trans Care curated by Cordy Joan, June 2025

Westward Bound: African American Country Music History & Country Lore curated by Vania Kinard, October-December 2024

BPL's Music Collection

The numbering system for CDs at BPL is designed for you to browse by music genre. Click on "BPL's Music Collection" above to find out how to explore each musical genre online or come browse your favorites today!

Song Index

OurSong Index  is a collection of over 270 books of sheet music indexed by song title.

It allows title searches to find lyrics and music to many popular, folk, jazz, Broadway, and…

Careers in the Arts

We have many print resources for working artists, musicians, and actors.

Magazines

Handmade BusinessBillboardSound on Sound

Online resources

Foundation CenterGrants to IndividualsandD…

Art, Music, & Recreation Clip Files

Historic newspaper clippings and ephemera related to Berkeley artists, architects, athletes, cultural institutions, and more are available to browse in the Berkeley History Room…

Music Online from Alexander Street Press

More than 1 million tracks from all genres of music available to stream.

Music Online is divided into 5 collections for easier browsing: American SongClassical Music LibraryCon…

Naxos Music Library

Streaming access to 3 million tracks of classical music. More than 600 new CDs are added to the library every month.

Naxos Jazz Music Library andNaxos World Music Libraryare also…

Naxos Sheet Music Publishing

Browse this catalogue of high-quality sheet music editions available for download and print and MIDI. Features a wide range of composers from the 19th and 20th centuries.

hoopla digital

Enjoy thousands of streaming movies, music, ebooks and eaudiobooks.

Discover & Go

Berkeley resident cardholders that are 14 years of age and older can spend the day gliding through an art museum, learning more about science, observing animals or playing pinball on a vintage pinball machine!