National Archives and Records Service film-vault fire at Suitland, Md. : hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, first session, June 19 and 21, 1979 (1979)

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180 STATEMENT OF DONALD C. CURRAN, ASSOCIATE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS, BEFORE THE GOVERNMENT INFORMATION AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS SUBCOMMITTEE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 21, 1979 Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: I appreciate this opportunity to appear here today to discuss the Library of Congress' program of conversion of nitrate film. I should like to begin my testimony with a general statement about the nature of the Library of Congress' collection of motion pictures and other audio-visual materials. In 1870, when the copyright law was changed to make the Library of Congress the recipient of all items deposited for protection, the present range of the collection was confirmed. Works of graphic art, posters, photographs, maps, and other "non-book" materials were brought within the scope of the Library's holdings. Its size and encyclopedic nature made the Library of Congress the national library of the United States. The diversity and completeness of its holdings supported its governmental function and at the same time attracted scholars from outside government. The first American motion picture came into the collections as a copyright deposit in 1894. The Library does not keep every item deposited for copyright, but selects for retention those materials it deems of permanent value either as records of events or as objects of cultural and social significance. The primary objective is to have available to researchers the record of American civilization. America is affected by other parts of the world, and our society has roots elsewhere, therefore we also collect foreign materials — but with greater selectivity than applies to materials of American origin.