I am on faculty of the University of North Carolina (not in the music department). Of course, I have free use of all the librarys, including our music library. I recently learned that anyone from the community can purchase a library card for $10/yr. If any of you have a local university that allows community access to its libraries, you might want to look into this potential resource for sheet music and other materials (books on technique, recordings, historical writings, etc).
William S. Newman, a noted Beethovan scholar and pianist was a professor here. I have checked out many music books that were apparently part of his personal collection (with his stamp, pencil markings, notes, etc. Pretty interesting and often helpful.

Finally, I also learned from the music department's web site that most of the piano faculty gives private lessons at a flat rate per semester (depending upon lesson length). For those of you looking into lessons or a new teacher, check with an area college or university.

In fact, all public universities are required by law to make their collections available to the general public. It's usually just a small fee for a "friends of the library" card.