About This Program
Audio-Visual Conservation at the Library of Congress Packard Campus. Located at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Culpeper, Virginia, the Library's Packard Campus of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center provides underground storage for this entire collection on 90 miles of shelving, together with extensive modern facilities for the acquisition, cataloging and preservation of all audio-visual formats. 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 Packard Campus
Located at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Culpeper, Virginia, the Library's newly completed Packard Campus of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center provides underground storage for this entire collection on 90 miles of shelving, together with extensive modern facilities for the acquisition, cataloging and preservation of all audio-visual formats.
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.
Learn more about The Packard Campus
Film, Television and Video Collections
The Library is home to more than 1.1 million film, television, and video items. With a collection ranging from motion pictures made in the 1890s to today's TV programs, the Library's holdings are an unparalled record of American and international creativity in moving images.
Read more about the Motion Picture and Television Reading Room
Audio Collections
The Library of Congress holds the nation's largest public collection of sound recordings containing music, spoken word and radio broadcasts, nearly 3.5 million recordings in all. Over 110 years of sound recordings history is represented in nearly every audio format, from cylinders to CDs, covering a wide range of subjects and genres in considerable depth and breadth.
Read more about the Recorded Sound Reading Room
Film/Event Schedules
- Packard Campus Theater (Culpeper, VA)
- Mary Pickford Theater (Washington, DC)
National Registries
Have a favorite movie or sound recording? Recommend it for the National Film or National Recording Registry. To be eligible, the film or sound recording must be American produced, at least 10 years old and of "cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance."
Learn more by visiting the registry Web sites:
- Film Registry (National Film Preservation Board)
- Recording Registry (National Recording Preservation Board)
Using the Collections
The Library of Congress holds the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of audio-visual works, over 6.2 million moving images, sound recordings and related documents. The collections include:
Preserving the Collections
From hands-on "boutique" copying of rare and fragile materials to streamlined robotic digitization processes, the Packard Campus provides for significantly increased preservation capabilities and capacities. The facility brings together the craftsmanship of traditional photochemical film-to-film preservation along side a digital acquisition and preservation system capable of archiving multiple petabytes of audiovisual content every year.
Film and Recording Boards
The National Film Preservation Board, an advisory body to the Librarian of Congress, is comprised of 44 individuals from the American film community working together to help preserve American's film heritage and increase public awareness of the vital need for preservation. As its chief duties, the Board counsels the Librarian on: 1) the annual selection of films to the National Film Registry and 2) national film preservation planning policy.
Events & Screenings
Screenings
The Packard Campus Theater in Culpeper, VA, programs screenings year round.