[2] It is a multi-media library comprising books, periodicals, audio-visual materials, photographic images and sound recordings, as well as manuscripts, field notes, transcriptions etc.

[3] According to A Dictionary of English Folklore, "... by a gradual process of professionalization the VWML has become the most important concentration of material on traditional song, dance, and music in the country.

[10] In 1940, four bombs hit the Cecil Sharp House during World War II, but the library remained intact.

[9] When Ralph Vaughan Williams, composer, collector and past president of the EFDSS, died in 1958, the library was renamed in his honor.

[19][20][21] The online material has been extended with the addition of a catalogue of the collection of books bequeathed by eminent folk music scholar Leslie Shepard.

[22] In addition, both Cecil Sharp's Appalachian diaries from 1915-1918 (in manuscript and transcript form) and over 300 images taken from his photographic collection are available for viewing on-line.