NRS-17459 | Film and Video Library [Department of Education]

Full description

The 16mm and 35mm films in this series were used as a teaching aid in schools throughout New South Wales from the establishment of the Department of Education’s Film Library in 1938 until its closure in March 1992. Its function was particularly important before television was introduced into Australia as it provided information in a format some children were unlikely to be exposed to elsewhere. At one time the library was the largest 16mm film library in Australia.

The library’s film collection consisted of films from the following three categories:
i) films created by the Department of School Education (and its predecessors);
ii)films not created by the Department of School Education or its predecessors but which are rare or unique Australian films (such as rare footage or film possessing special significance to Australian life or special significance in relation to education in New South Wales);
iii) Films (including duplicate copies) not created by the Department of School Education or its predecessors and possessing no special significance (as specified in category ii).

The film collection covers the full range of school curricula and all of the films are on safety film and most possess soundtracks.

The films were managed by a manual card system (NRS17460) until computerisation of the collection’s management in 1987. From this date, the library’s film collection was superseded by video and, when the library was closed in 1992, the video collection (active stock) was transferred to the regions and the 16mm and 35mm film collection (inactive stock) was transferred to the Archives Authority.