September 15, 2008 Library of Congress Announces New Chief of the Packard Campus of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center

The Library of Congress has appointed Patrick Loughney as the chief of the Packard Campus of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, in Culpeper, Va. Loughney will oversee the state-of-the-art facility where the Library of Congress acquires, preserves and provides access to the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of movies, television programs, radio broadcasts and sound recordings.

The Packard Campus has globally unprecedented capabilities and capacities for the preservation and reformatting of all audio-visual media formats dating back to the 19th century. In addition to preserving the collections of the Library, the campus was also designed to provide similar preservation services for other archives and libraries in both the public and private sectors. The Packard Campus is the locus for three congressionally-mandated boards charged with preserving the nation’s audio-visual heritage: the National Film Preservation Board, the National Recording Preservation Board, and the American Television and Radio Archive.

“The Library of Congress is delighted to have Dr. Loughney return to head the Packard Campus,” said Deanna Marcum, associate librarian for Library Services, regarding Loughney’s appointment. “The facility created through the generosity of the Packard Humanities Institute and the U.S. Congress has the capacity for transformative work in audio-visual preservation and services to users. We are confident that the potential of the Packard Campus can be realized through Dr. Loughney’s leadership and the excellent work of staff.”

Since January 2005, Loughney has been curator of the Motion Picture Department of George Eastman House Museum in Rochester, New York, and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Rochester. He has also served as director of the L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation at Eastman House. From 1995-2005, Loughney was head of the Moving Image Section and Motion Picture and Television Reading Room in the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division of the Library of Congress. He served in the military and earned a doctoral degree in American Studies from George Washington University in 1988, where he wrote his dissertation on the Library of Congress Paper Print Collection and the related public records in the Copyright Office.

“I am happy that the Library has hired one of the film world’s most thoughtful and experienced practitioners of conservation to head the Packard Campus,” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. “Dr. Patrick Loughney combines outstanding scholarship on the history of film with great technological expertise in audio-visual preservation and conservation. He will provide strong leadership for the excellent staff already working at the Culpeper facility.”

Upon learning of his appointment, Loughney said, “I am happy to have the opportunity to join the Library’s excellent staff of audio-visual curators, archivists, and librarians, and I look forward to working with them in realizing the potential of the wonderful new Packard Campus facility.”

The Packard Campus was created through a unique partnership between the Packard Humanities Institute, the United States Congress, the Library of Congress, and the Architect of the Capitol. The facility, with a construction cost of more than $155 million, represents the largest-ever private gift to the Library of Congress and one of the largest ever to the federal government.

The Library of Congress, founded in 1800, is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and the largest library in the world. The Library serves the U.S. Congress and the nation both on-site, in its 22 reading rooms on Capitol Hill, and through its award-winning Web site at www.loc.gov. Many of the Library’s rich resources and treasures may also be accessed via interactive exhibitions on a new, personalized Web site at www.myLOC.gov.