Libraries of the world: The Library of Congress presented the National Recording Preservation Plan

On February 13, 2103 the Library of Congress unveiled “The Library of Congress National Recording Preservation Plan”, a blueprint for saving America’s recorded sound heritage for future generations. The congressionally mandated plan spells out 32 short- and long-term recommendations involving both the public and private sectors and covering infrastructure, preservation, access, education and policy strategies.

This program, as indicated by the authors, is to help professionals working in 14 thousand libraries and archives across the United States, to coordinate their efforts to preserve and protect valuable sound materials. It also aims to provide support for the free and unimpeded access to such sound recordings for educational and informative purposes.

The proven plan foresees the creation of a comprehensive database, which will be made of all kinds of audio soundtracks recorded in the U.S., as well as the development of national strategies to identify cataloguing and preservation of historically valuable audio. In addition, the program provides for the implementation of digitizing as many major audio and the creation of libraries of the country-specific archive rooms with adjustable characteristics of the environment for the proper and long-term storage of materials that cannot be digitized. As part of the submitted plan experts also recommend the authorities to ensure adequate funding of university programs to train professionals in the field of conservation of sound materials.

According to the Director Library of Congress James Billington, the publication of this document is a “historic and very timely achievement”. “This is the first significant step for the United States, directed to an effective national cooperation for the preservation of our recorded sound heritage for future generations”, - he stressed.

Head of Department of the Library of Congress, responsible for the preservation of audiovisual data, Patrick Lokhni in his turn finds that most U.S. citizens do not realize just what a huge amount of information about the most important historical events are recorded in audio form. “Digital technology and easily accessible format gives the impression that sooner or later it will appear in the Internet – he says - In fact, a huge part of the sound history of the U.S. simply is not accessible for the audience”. According to him, at various institutions around the country are stored 46 million audio recordings that are not protected properly or kept in inappropriate conditions.

He also recalled the founded under the auspices of the Library of Congress non-profit foundation, which this year will fund to small and facing financial problems of audio archives to maintain records stored in them in appropriate conditions.