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Film Libraries

History

Film libraries have an important part in the preservation and restoration of films and motion pictures.  The United States congress passes a landmark legislative bill in 1966, creating the National Film Preservation Foundation, an independent, non-profit, public-private partnership.  This legislation helps fund private and public groups that are working to save motion pictures from decaying and disappearing from our lives (Public Moving Image Archives and Research Centers, 2003). 

Current Status

Film libraries have many important roles in today’s society.  Many film libraries have public programs.  Some of these programs include showcasing film makers, classics, independent films and some of the most beloved films.  One of their major roles is the preservation and restoration of films.  This takes many hours of painstaking hard work including researching the film, finding the missing pieces or the best quality copy there is, and transferring the motion picture onto better quality and more stable film.  This can take a very long time to complete, but is well worth the hard work.  Another role that the film library has is that of education.  Film libraries help educate people about the importance of film preservation.  They also help educate people about film making and the history of film making. (UCLA Film and Television Archive, 2003). Many public libraries have a film section to their library.  These libraries usually do not work with preserving and restoring films.  They are there for the public to borrow films. 

Collections

Film libraries collect many things including films, television titles and news reels.  The UCLA film library has over 220,000 films and television programs, and 27 million feet of newsreel footage.  Their collection includes motion pictures from 20^th Century Fox, Paramount, Warner Bros., Sony/Columbia, Republic, Orion and many independent films.  They also have the complete Hearst Metrotone News Library.  The television collection includes complete runs of many shows, Emmy Award Broadcast and television commercials. (2003)  Smaller film libraries may not have as many titles but can also have a good selection of films, television programs and news reels. 

Subject Headings

There are many subject headings that a film library may use, some examples are:

Film, movie, cinema, drama, and animation. 

 

 

Patrons

There are many people that use film libraries.  Some of the more frequent users include students, scholars and writers, producers and programmers.  Many film libraries will lend films for non-profit organizations for viewing.  

Staffing

The number of staff depends on the size of the film library.  For large film libraries the staff can range from cataloguers to administrators.  There can also be collection developers, preservationist, archivist and curators.  A small film library might only employee a reference librarian to help the patron find the film they are looking for.

Organizations

International Federation of Film Archives          

National Film Preservation Foundation

American Library Association 

Job Opportunities

There are many job opportunities in a film library.  Film libraries employ archivist, cataloguers, preservationists and more.  The salary can range depending on the size of the library and the job that you perform.