Reuben Musiker – librarian and musicologist of note

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The youngest child and son of Judel and Sarah Musiker, he qualified in 1954 with a medical BSc from the Witwatersrand Medical School. He studied for this degree in order to save what was left of an incompatible period as a dental student, following a severe hearing loss.

After graduating from Wits, he studied for  a higher diploma in librarianship at the University of Cape Town School of Librarianship, which he obtained also in 1954. 

In 1955, Prof Musiker started work at the Johannesburg Public Library under the guidance of R F Kennedy, the city librarian. The seven years he spent there were “extremely stressful but from a career point of view, richly rewarding”. He gained invaluable experience in the periodicals, reference, Africana, cataloguing and lending services, rising to the post of organiser of branches. 

During this period he began to publish books and articles, including the first edition of his Guide to South African Reference Books, which eventually ran to five editions. He also tutored students taking the correspondence courses of the South African Library Association.

He was an inspiring and patient teacher throughout his career and in later years advised and assisted many postgraduate students in bibliographical style, citation of notes and references. He was responsible for the compilation of a Style Guide for Theses and Dissertations which was published by the University of the Witwatersrand in 1980.

In 1961 he became deputy university librarian at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, where he spent 11 years.

During this period he obtained an MA (with distinction) from the University of Pretoria for a dissertation on The Special Libraries of South Africa, which was published in 1970. He also played his part in Jewish communal life, as secretary of the Grahamstown Synagogue Committee. 

In 1973, he was invited to take up the post of university librarian at Wits, where he also served as professor of librarianship and bibliography. After his retirement in December 1991, he was made emeritus professor. He was active in the field of bibliography for over 40 years with six books and over 150 articles to his credit.

In 1999, he was invited to become library consultant to the South African Jewish Board of Deputies. He was responsible for the initial installation of a computerised cataloguing system for the library and archives. 

When the SAJBD became part of the Beyachad Centre, Prof Musiker had considerable input in the design and layout of the Board’s library and archives. He served on the editorial board of Jewish Affairs and contributed many reviews and articles.

In 1984, as university librarian, he accepted the Mendel Tabatznik Yiddish Collection as part of the Landau Library at Wits. With a generous donation from the Sheila Samson Fund, the Landau Library grew in stature and importance and other Yiddish collections were added.   

In 1986 Prof Musiker was elected chairman of the SA Association of Jewish Studies and was responsible for organising the Association’s 10th Anniversary Conference at Wits in September 1987. 

Prof Musiker had a passionate interest in light orchestral music of the era from 1950 to 1980. Many of the composers and conductors of this period were of Jewish origin.

This interest resulted in the production of two reference volumes, Conductors and Composers of Popular Orchestral Music published in 1998, and a semi-autobiographical volume entitled With a Song in My Heart: Aspects of 20^th Century Popular Music published in 2013.   

Professor Musiker leaves his wife, Naomi, three children and six grandchildren.