The Education of an Archivist: Keeping Movies at the Library of Congress

The article reminiscences working in the Motion Picture Section of the Library of Congress from 1958 until 1978, the year that the moving image collection was merged with sound recordings to create the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. During these years, the film and video collection grew in size and evolved into a collection of national scope. In the early years, the work was primarily custodial, but during the 1960s and 1970s, it became more professional. The criteria for the profession were still being formulated, and there was little formal training. Professionalism was learned through experience, and exchanges with compatriots in other archives in the United States and abroad were vitally important. In this vein, Spehr discusses the importance of relations with the academic community, the preservation program of the National Endowment for the Arts, the archive program of the American Film Institute, the influence of the Federation International des Archives of Film, and the evolution of the Archives Advisory Committee.