LISSTEN library tours

Annie Knight

Thanks to the planning efforts of Lucy Bellamy, LISSTEN V.P. (2006-2007), SJSU-SLIS students and guests were given a tour of the Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive in Los Angeles on April 25th. The tour was led by Barbara Hall (Research Archivist), Anne Coco (Graphic Arts Librarian), and Jenny Romero (Special Collections Department Coordinator)—each candidly sharing their individual film scholarship and librarian experience in addition to highlighting the library and film archive collection offerings.

Upon checking in our bags (only paper and writing tools allowed, but guests are given complimentary locker space for personal belongings), having our IDs checked by security, and signing in, we gathered in the main lobby of the library, and settled into Barbara Hall’s brief history of the Herrick Library facility. Next, we headed upstairs to the Cecil B. DeMille Reading Room to see the library and archive holdings: 32,000 books; 1,800 periodical titles; 60,000 screenplays; 200,000 clipping files; 30,000 posters; lobby cards, pressbooks and other advertising ephemera; 8 million photographs; 300 manuscript and other special collections relating to prominent industry individuals, studios and organizations; sheet music, music scores and sound recordings; production and costume sketches; artifacts; and oral histories.

We enjoyed demonstrations of the library’s catalog that enables users to search books, periodicals, scripts, and posters (go ahead and look up your favorite Bruce Lee poster! You can even order a print of it from the library for a nominal fee!); databases (including the Motion Picture Scripts Database and the library’s in-house electronic periodical index database MHL), and public computer station functionality. We even got a behind-the-scenes introduction to a name authority project underway at the library that gave many of us new insight regarding the library’s treatment of LC and local subject headings.

In the library’s special collections area were several tables prepared by our tour guides displaying actual film archive materials, some dating back to the very early 1900s. Works such as a scrapbook created by Mary Pickford, silent movie sheet music (the library is also said to have a music and recorded sound collection), and a handwritten script are just a few examples of the awe-inspiring artifacts highlighted. We also viewed pieces from the library’s fan letter, release flyer and publicity sheet, production design drawings, and costume design sketch collections.

To give context to our eager sifting through of one incredible piece of film history after another, our tour guides explained the daily and long-term logistics involved in collection development and maintenance.  For example, we learned about the library’s storage of its clipping files. Also discussed was the library’s treatment of donations, responsibility of the staff specialists (such as the acquisitions archivist and conservator), and the overall prioritization of the library’s numerous and never-ending projects that involve the preservation, cataloging, and accessibility of its collection’s holdings. 

As the tour ended, I took one more peek into the library’s antique Edison kinetoscope, The film buff in me was indeed stirred, and I could have stayed at least five hours longer just looking through the ephemeral personal reaction card collection and the library’s seemingly endless supply of fan letters (oh, and the periodicals!).

LISSTEN would like to wholeheartedly thank Barbara Hall, Anne Coco, Jenny Romero, and the Margaret Herrick Library and the Academy Film Archive for their time and graciousness in providing us with such a memorable tour.

To inquire about a tour at the Margaret Herrick Library and the Academy Film Archive, call 310-247-3000.