The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 40 The 'Educational Screen All films thus deposited become the property ot the Visual Aids Service. If the school wishes to withdraw from the cooperating library at the end of the first year of its membership, one half the purchase price of the film is refunded.^ Each in- dividual school using the films under the coopera- tive plan must deposit a film. Schools in the same system, however, may combine for the service as long as the total of their enrollments does not ex- ceed 1,000 pupils. A cooperating school which deposits one film is entitled to the following service during each of the two years of membership: (1) thirty-six bookings of 16-mm. silent films classified as distinctly in- structional; (2) an unlimited number of 16-mm. silent films classified as scenic or industrial ;^ and, (3) an unlimited number of glass-slide sets. At Headquarters of the Visual Aids Service A school may, if it desires, deposit more than one film each two years. For every extra film deposited, the school pays an annual service fee of $5 and is entitled to thirty-six additional bookings of the in- structional films. All transportation costs on the materials are paid by the borrower. To reduce the transportation costs, a school may maintain a post- age deposit with the Visual Aids Service. The films deposited by cooperating schools may be selected by the teachers or administrators of the schools, subject to approval by the Visual Aids Service. In practice, however, most of the coop- erating schools have left the selection of films to the Service. In such instances the Service orders the films and bills the schools for the amount of the purchase price. A statement that a film was de- posited by a certain school follows the description of each deposited film in the annual catalog. A 16-mm. sound-on-film library is now being in- augurated on a cooperative plan similar to that of the 16-mm. silent-film library described above. A school depositing a sound film is entitled to three <It may be of interest to the reader to know that as yet no school has asked to withdraw from the cooperative library. 6The titles of the instructional films are marked by asterisks in the annual catalog of motion-picture films and glass slides while the titles of all scenic and industrial films are not so marked. years' service from the sound-on-film library in- stead of two years' service as in the case of the 16-mm. silent-film library. An annual service fee of $5 is charged. Schools, however, that are also cooperating members of the silent-film library do not pay an additional service fee for the sound-on- film service. Eight schools became cooperating members dur- ing the school year 1933-34, depositing a total of ten instructional films in the Visual Aids Service Library. During the next school year, 1934-35, thirty-seven schools were cooperating and had de- posited forty-two instructional films. To date a total of seventy-two schools have deposited eighty- three reels of film. As was to be expected, the cooperative film li- brary developed rather slowly at first, since the number of films available to cooperating school-: was limited. School administrators who deposited films during the first year or two were persons who were capable of looking into the future and visual- izing the possibilities of the cooperative plan. At the present time, early in the third year of the de- velopment of the cooperative library, it is very encouraging to note that no longer is it necessary to urge principals and superintendents to deposit films in the cooperative film library; they now re- quest the privilege of cooperating. Since the mid- dle of September, when the 1935-36 catalog was distributed, twenty-five schools have each deposited a film in the library. A few statistics showing the amount of material available from the Visual Aids Service library from year to year, and how much of this material was distributed to schools, will probably be of interest to the reader. Table I shows that the number of reels of 35-mm. film and sets of glass slides in the library has increased very little since the first year of the Service, while the number of reels of 16-mm. film has increased rapidly. The distribution of TABLE I Kinds and Amount of Visual Instruction Material in the Visual Aids Service Library During the Years, 1932-33 to 1935-36 Reels of films Kinds of Material deposited Reels of Sets of by coop- Number Year 16mm. 16mm. 3Smm. glass erating ofbor- silent sound silent slides schools rowers 1932-33 30 0 148 43 0 99 1933-34 78 0 156 43 10 120 1934-35 160 0 170 44 42 211 1935-36 306 8 212 44 83 ? 35-mm. films will be discontinued within the next year or two, but it is hoped that the number of sets of glass slides can be greatly increased. Although the university has appropriated less than $1000 to the Visual Aids Service for the purchase of visual- instruction materials, the value of the film and slides now available from the library is conserva- tively estimated at $12,000.