Sing ma amal a Liadl (Let’s sing a song): The Archives of the Austrian Folksong Institute were incorporated in 1994 in the Austrian National Library and hold documents of musical-poetic and dance expressions.

Apart from handwritten recordings of texts and melodies, the Library can boast of the biggest holdings of prints on the topic of folksongs, folk music, folk dancing, and folk poetry in Austria. The collection of sound recordings extends from shellacs to LP’s, tape recordings and cassettes to digital recordings and CD’s. Pictorial documents and song sheets complete the holdings. The collection is housed in the rooms of the Austrian Folksong Institute.

The Archives of the Austrian Folksong Institute owes its existence to an order by the Ministry for Culture and Education in 1904 that called for the listing and documentation of all national songs and dances and their melodies in Austria and the then crown lands. After a changeable history of that area of specialisation, in 1955 a central archive for Austrian folksong was founded with the task of looking after interregional projects and bringing together copies from the nine folksong archives of the federal provinces.

With its scholarly projects, such as the „Corpus Musicae Popularis Austriacae“, its fieldwork, events, exhibitions, and training courses the Archives form a connecting link between scholarship and adult education and make an important contribution to conserving and spreading of this non-physical cultural heritage.