Where else can you find vintage copies of the “FIFA” video game from the 2000s next to some of the first photographs known to man — from the late 1800s?
Or, a specially-formatted cut of a Justin Bieber concert film from the 2010s — next to the original 1970s “Star Wars” in laser disk format?!
It’s all inside the Moving Image Section of the Library of Congress Packard Campus!
Earlier this week on “Matt About Town,” we gave you an overview of the Library of Congress’ National Audio-Visual Conservation Center at Packard: a 45-acre campus 75 miles southwest of D.C. in Culpeper, Virginia.
The center maintains physical records dating back more than 135 years of America’s media history. But what exactly does that mean? What are the specifics on what they’re actually storing here?
The Moving Image Section, located on the first floor of the campus’ main building, is one of the more remarkable stops on our exclusive, behind-the-scenes tour. Staff describe it as an unparalleled repository of American and international creativity.
All told, there are more than 2 million physical media items stored in this wing of Packard’s main facility alone!
And while there’s a special emphasis on film in this section, the Library of Congress also keeps a ton of other media: from music videos to VHS movies to CDs and DVDs, video games for all consoles, and several generations of cassette tapes. They even have copies of programs from the very first days of American television. There’s really no limit to what they’ve amassed!
Watch this video exploration to have your mind blown, and stay tuned for the next episode of “Matt About Town” (coming next week), where we’ll show you how staff are actually taking care of these materials, especially the photos documenting our country’s earliest films from the 19th and 20th centuries.
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