Appointments are optional, but encouraged. To help us better serve you, request a research appointment to ensure collection material is accessible during your visit at the Library. The Library of Congress asks all visitors to follow our COVID-19 health screening protocols , which are based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and the Office of the Attending Physician of the U.S. Capitol. For additional instructions, see the Researcher Scheduling page.

About the Collections

• Motion Pictures in the Library of Congress
• Television in the Library of Congress
• National Film Preservation Board
• The Mary Pickford Theater
• Packard Campus of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center

Research, Reference & Policies

• General Information
• Researching LC Moving Image Holdings
• LibGuides
• Subject Guides & Finding Aids
• Guidelines for Viewing Films, Videos, and Digital Files at the Library of Congress
• Subject Research, Archival Footage, and Public Domain Films
  
• Obtaining Copies of Moving Image Materials

Digital Collections & Online Resources

• Digital Moving Image Collections
• The National Screening Room
• American Archive of Public Broadcasting
• Jazz on the Screen Database
• Online Selections from the National Film Registry
• American Silent Feature Film Database
• Preserving Your Moving Image Materials
• Copyright Issues Related to Film
• Resources for Moving Image Related Subjects & Materials

Hours:
Weekdays, 8:30am to 5:00pm
Closed Weekends &
Federal Holidays

Ask a Librarian
Want to ask the reference staff a question about motion picture and television collections?

The Library of Congress began collecting motion pictures in 1893 when Thomas Edison and his brilliant assistant W.K.L. Dickson deposited the Edison Kinetoscopic Records for copyright. However, because of the difficulty of safely storing the flammable nitrate film used at the time, the Library retained only the descriptive material relating to motion pictures. In 1942, recognizing the importance of motion pictures and the need to preserve them as a historical record, the Library began the collection of the films themselves; from 1949 on these included films made for television. Today the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center (NAVCC) is responsibile for the acquisition, cataloging and preservation of the Library's motion picture and television collections. The Moving Image Research Center to provides access and information services to an international community of film and television professionals, archivists, scholars and researchers. Our holdings complement the audio recordings served in the Recorded Sound Research Center.