Brief Description: Subject file of the chairs of the Visual Methods and Audio-Visual Committee, with Mary U. Rothrock (1938-40), Quincy L. Mumford (1952-53), Karline Brown (1953-55), Irving Liebermann (1960-62), C. Walter Stone (1963-66), John Moriarity (1967-69), Richard Ducote (1970- 71), Pearce Grove (1971-74) and Evelyn G. Clement (1974-75). The 1936-40 files contain bound correspondence of the Visual Methods Committee. The 1947-55 files contain correspondence, minutes of meetings and reports concerning the American Heritage Project (1951-55), Basic Buying List of Films (1953), Audio-Visual Round Table (1954-55), Cooperative Film Services Survey (1955), Film Council of America and Library Film Preview Center Project (1953- 55), Film Reference Shelf List (1953), Survey of Radio Broadcasts for Children (1941) and ALA Film Advisor Office established by Carnegie Corporation grant (1947-51). The 1960-75 files, collected by Evelyn Clement, author of a doctoral dissertation on the committee, contains correspondence and minutes of the Audio-Visual Committee (1966-75) concerning guidelines for the classification and cataloging of non-print materials, promotion of Audio-Visual publications, proposal for Audio-Visual Office at ALA Headquarters and library cooperation with producers of media materials. The series includes Audio-Visual Board minutes and reports (1924-56), correspondence with and Newsletter of Educational Media Council, and correspondence with John Chancellor, Vivian Cazayoux, Patricia Cory, Grace Stevenson, Clarence Graham, Lester Asheim, and Irving Liebermann.

Record Series Number: 61/1/6

Created by: Audiovisual Committee

Volume: 3.6 Cubic Feet

Acquired: 04/26/1974.

Arrangement: Arranged by accession, then by subject title or alphabetically by project and chronological thereunder

Biographical Note for Audiovisual Committee :

The Audiovisual Committee (AC) was formed in January, 1924 (1). Its primary focus was on educational films and the relationship between films and library services, since librarians were becoming acquainted with the content, organization, and circulation of several forms of INT media, chiefly of films (2).

By 1965, the Audiovisual Committee broadened its interests to include a wider variety of media, and of library service, and assigned program planning, special projects, and continuing activities to subcommittees (3). In fact, audiovisual actvities had become dispersed among ALA units, entirely independent of the activities of the Audiovisual Committee (4).

Through the next ten years, the Audiovisual Committee attempted to define its role and mission within ALA; audiovisual activitiy among the divisions of the Association continued to function independently of the Audiovisual Committee (5). By 1974, nearly fifty separate audiovisual subcommittees within ALA divisions were identified (6).

In 1975, the Audiovisual Committee voted to discontinue its activities, because, the dispersion and diffusion of audiovisual activities across the Association, its major work had been accomplished (7).

By 1992, the Video Round Table had formed, working toward an acknowledgement of the critical role played by video within libraries and scholarly learnings. Its continuing emphasis is on film, working to identify less mainstream, commercial works, and expose a larger public to the less recognized works of independent film makers and documentarians, in additions to foreign films.

Sub-Groups:

1-Chairperson

2-Video Round Table

3-Publications

Subject Index

Languages of Materials