Congress saving the past for the future

Film and sound recordings are vital parts of America’s cultural patrimony.  Recent studies commissioned by the Library of Congress paint a dire picture of the health of the nation’s audio-visual heritage.  About 70 percent of feature-length silent films made in America have been completely lost to time and neglect.  Experts estimate that more than half of the titles recorded on cylinder records, the industry standard for more than two decades, have not survived. 

This is just the tip of the iceberg.  Countless historic moments captured on film and recorded sound are no longer available to the American people and future generations.  Unfortunately, our collective energy in creating and consuming motion pictures and sound recordings has not been matched by an equal level of interest in preserving them for posterity. 

{mosads}The cultural loss is enormous, but our nation’s lawmakers recently renewed their commitment to preserving our cinematic and recorded sound heritage with the passage of the Library of Congress Sound Recording and Film Preservation Programs Reauthorization Act of 2016 (S. 2893), which was signed into law on July 29.

This act extends the National Film Preservation Act of 1996 and the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000 through fiscal year 2026. These landmark bills established the National Film Preservation Board and the National Recording Preservation Board respectively to advise the Librarian of Congress about national preservation policy and help the Library develop and disseminate preservation and production standards for at-risk works.  Congress also approved the creation of the National Film Preservation Foundation and the National Recording Preservation Foundation as private-sector charitable affiliates of the boards to raise funds and distribute them to archives throughout the United States. 

Important provisions of the legislation established the National Film Registry and the National Recording Registry, whereby the Librarian of Congress—with advice from the preservation boards and public nominations—selects 25 films and 25 sound recordings annually that have been deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant to be preserved for posterity.  The announcements of the annual registry selections and the preservation boards have played critical roles in increasing the public’s awareness of the need to preserve the nation’s cinematic and sound legacy and in fostering continued cooperation in the film and recorded sound communities. 

The reauthorization bill also will increase the number of members on the National Recording Preservation Foundation board and cap federal matching funds for the recording-preservation foundation, already a requirement for the film-preservation foundation. 

Rep. Robert A. Brady (D-Pa.) led the effort by introducing the reauthorization bill H.R. 4092 in November, 2015. Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced a similar measure, S. 2893, on April 28. “We need to safeguard these precious items so they are not lost and so that generations of Americans to come can appreciate and learn about their historical and creative roots in both film and sound recordings,” said Grassley in introducing the measure.  The Senate passed the bill on July 13 with the support of the Senate Rules Committee [Chairman Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Ranking Member Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)], followed by unanimous consent of the House on July 14 with the support of the Committee on House Administration and its Chair Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.). 

It is clear that Congress is a leading advocate for the preservation of America’s collective genius. Leahy charged the Library and the preservation foundations “to continue their important work in preserving America’s fading treasures, as well as providing grants that will help libraries, museums and archives preserve these works and make them available for study and research.”

That is a mandate that we at the world’s largest library have taken very seriously.  The Library of Congress for decades has worked to acquire, preserve and make materials accessible.  In recent years, these efforts have increased in scope and scale.

In 2013, the Library released the first comprehensive survey of American feature films that survived the silent era of motion pictures.  The report revealed startling facts about the nation’s endangered silent-film heritage: only about 30 percent of feature-length silent films made in America have survived in some form. The Library is presently implementing several of the six key study recommendations, including the creation of an online public database to show what silent feature films still exist and where, as well as the Silent Film Project, in which the Library works with collectors to identity “lost” or rare silent (and selected sound era) films, and then borrow, catalog, digitally preserve and ensure their availability for public viewing and research.

Also in 2013, the Library issued a national recording preservation plan—a blueprint for saving America’s recorded sound heritage.   One of the recent outgrowths of that plan has been the creation of the Radio Preservation Task Force, established in 2014 by the Library’s National Recording Preservation Board.

Since its creation, the task force has embarked on a nationwide initiative to identify major collections of radio recordings in archives, universities and libraries; recruited more than 130 researchers to identify key archival sources; and enlisted subject-matter experts to identify the most-crucial recordings for preservation. It also has built a network of more than 350 affiliate archives, collections and radio-producing organizations across the U.S. and Canada.

The Library promotes preservation in other ways as well, aiding institutions in the preservation of their own collections, helping establish national preservation standards and policy, and generally raising awareness.  This outreach has ramped up since the enactment of the historic congressional mandates in 1988 and 2000. 

Through the passage of this important legislation, Congress has ensured that America’s past will be part of its future.

David Mao is the Acting Librarian of Congress.