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The value of these records is indicated by the daily use made of them by studio personnel, especially research departments, publicity offices, studio film libraries, producers, actors, writers, and directors. Art Directors find the Academy library particularly helpful. The more than 20,000 stills of people and production, dating back to the inception of film making, provide excellent visual research material.
The library was founded in 1936 by Margaret Herrick, now the Academy's executive director, as an agency through which the Academy might serve the cinema industry to greater extent.
Studios have come to rely on this vast resource, where records of the film industry are stored against time. The memories that linger in the history of films, the success and the applause of persons who had a part in the development of Hollywood's industry, are preserved in the archives.
To bring about the realization of such an industry-devoted library has been a project of major dimensions, but it is an undertaking that our film studios can well be proud of. This
collection is a wealth of technical and artistic knowledge that serves the ultimate interests of motion pictures. Therefore, day in and day out, the work goes on to ferret out all available material and amass it into an organized file.
Its activities are directed by Betty Franklin, head librarian, and her assistant, Lillian Schwartz. Their analyses show that inquiries to the office range from requests of photos for use in illustrating stories, to lists of films having similar subjects or sequences, such as "a dream sequence," or "an Olympics team" sequence. Historical characters in films and who portrayed them in which pictures, is another topic in frequent demand. Biographical films about musicians or singers; dates of births and deaths of Hollywood notables; economics of the industry in any given year or era; industry credits for specific individuals, such as film editors, cameramen, art directors, or costume designers; names and addresses of organizations, are other data sought.
Besides the industry personnel, magazine and newspaper writers often solicit information. The gen
Some of the 20,000 folders of still photos are on file here.
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