The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

16mm Film Libraries in tlie U. S. THE U.S. Office of Education will publish this fall a new directory of 1 6mm film libraries — a state-by 'State and city-by-city list of sources where one can borrow or rent movies throughout the United States. There are 2,660 ■luch sources listed and described in this new USOE directiiry.* Where are these film libraries? Who operates them? How many films do they have? What kinds of films? Here, I liefly, are some answers to these questions and, concurrently, some data about 16mm film distribution in the I'nited States. I want to emphasize, first of all, that the figures cited in this article are not statistical certainties. We compiled our "2,660" directory as a source list for users of 16mm films, not as a numerical survey. The data are reasonable, we believe, but we also believe that a thorough analysis needs to be made of 1 6mm film distribution in the United States. The pattern is chaotic and facts and figures are urgently needed. Where are the film libraries ? They are scattered throughout the country, in all 48 states and in the territories. California has the most, Vermont the fewest. There are, of course, more film libraries in the populous states, but the ratio is not one-to-one. Following is a list of the number of film libraries in individual states : by SEERLEY REID California 261 New York -.. 242 Illinois 166 Ohio 1 55 Pennsylvonio 1 20 Virginia 1 1 6 Texas 101 Wisconsin 88 Michigan 85 Indiana 84 Missouri 83 Washington 73 Massachusetts 72 Minnesota 72 Georgia 65 Tennessee 47 District of Columbia 46 New Jersey — 46 North Carolina — 43 Oregon ._ 43 Louisiana 42 Connecticut 40 Oklahoma 40 Florida . 37 Colorado 34 Iowa 34 Maryland 34 Nebraska 31 Kentucky 29 West Virginia 28 Alabama 26 Kansas 26 Arkansas ^ 23 Mississippi 21 Utah 19 South Carolina 18 New Mexico 1 5 Arizona 14 Hawaii 14 Rhode Island 14 South Dakota 14 Moine 13 Montana 1 3 New Hampshire 12 North Dakota 1 2 Delaware 1 0 Idaho 10 Alaska 8 Wyoming 7 Nevada 5 Puerto Rico 5 Vermont 4 2.660 Of more interest, perhaps, than individual state figures are regional comparisons and particularly the ratio of film libraries to population. Here are such comparative data : Seerley Reid is Chief of the Visual Educafion Service, Office of Education, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Statistical analyses of the data reported in this article were made by Mrs. Anita A. Carpenter of Dr. Reid's staff. No . of Film No. of Film Lib raries per Region Libraries 100,000 Population Pacific Coast 377 2.6 Mountain and Plains 171 2.0 Midwest 685 1.9 New England 155 1.7 Middle Atlontic 642 1.6 Southwest 170 1.5 South 433 1.3 Territories 27 1.0 2,660 1.8 At first glance, these figures appear very discouraging: 2,660 film libraries, yes, but only one library for 50,000 film users! Statistically, they are discouraging. Practically, they show us how far we must go to make films easily available and widely accessible to the American people. Who operates film libraries ? In compiling our 1953 directory, we defined a 16mm film library as any "company, institution, or organization that lends or rents 16mm films in the United States." Within this definition, there are, seemingly, an infinite variety of film sources ranging from those which circulate a single film — on the growing of filberts, the manufacture of paper, the training of an airline stewardess — to those which have thousands of different films. Basically, film libraries fall into three groups according to their purpose and reason for being — (1) those which circulate as part of a specific program or function, such as school systems or university extension services; (2) those which rent films as a business, such as the audiovisual education dealers; and (3) those which distribute films to promote a particular advertising or public relations message. It is easier, however, and perhaps more meaningful to classify film libraries according to the "companies, institutions, or organizations" which operate them, and in these terms the 2,660 films may be grouped as follows: Type of film library Number Schools and school systems 503 Audio-visual education dealers 490 Industrial companies or trade associations.. 463 U. S. Government agencies 244 Colleges and universities... 226 Nonprofit national organizations 217 Public libraries 176 State government agencies 1 30 Religious organizations 92 National film distributors 86 Miscellaneous 33 Percentage of Total *A Directory of 2,660 16mm Film Libraries. U. S. Office of Education Bulletin 1953, No. 7. Washington, D. C: U. S. Government Printing Office. 1953. 2,660 18.9 18.4 17.4 9.2 8.5 8.2 6.6 4.9 3.5 3.2 1.2 100.0 (Continued on page 407) November, 1 953 395