The National Film Preservation Board is a federal advisory body founded in 1988 to recommend American motion pictures for inclusion in the National Film Registry, which is maintained by the Library of Congress. Its creation came directly out of public argument over the colorization of black-and-white classics and the commercial re-editing and panning-and-scanning of historic films, controversies that pushed Congress to act. Board members are appointed by the Librarian of Congress, serve four-year renewable terms, and receive no pay for their work. The physical infrastructure that supports the Board’s mission includes 124 nitrate film vaults, the largest such collection in the western hemisphere, housed at the Packard Campus of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center.
Key facts
- Founded: 1988
- Type: organization
Origins and the 1988 Act
The National Film Preservation Act of 1988 was driven by a specific cultural dispute: whether commercial distributors could colorize black-and-white films and otherwise alter classic motion pictures for new markets. The practice of re-editing and panning-and-scanning, which crops a widescreen frame to fit a television screen, drew particular criticism from filmmakers and archivists who argued the results were materially different from the works audiences had originally seen.
Congress responded by establishing the Board and giving it a legislative mandate to identify films of cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance. The 1988 Act also included a concrete enforcement provision: any federally funded entity that distributed or broadcast a materially altered version of a Registry film was required to label it as such. That labeling requirement addressed the colorization debate directly, without banning the practice outright.
Membership and governance
The Librarian of Congress appoints all Board members, who serve four-year terms with no cap on the number of terms any individual may serve. Membership carries no salary; members may receive travel expenses and per diem in lieu of subsistence in accordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5 of the United States Code.
Twelve members constitute a quorum, though a smaller group may convene to hold hearings. Attendance is a formal obligation: if a member fails to attend at least one regularly scheduled Board meeting over any consecutive two-year period, the Librarian of Congress may remove that member or the organization the member represents.
Scope beyond film: the 1997 television study
In 1997, the Librarian of Congress, drawing on input from the Board, commissioned a companion study titled Television and Video Preservation 1997. The study examined the state of American television and video preservation, acknowledging that the preservation problems the Board had been set up to address in cinema applied equally to the enormous body of American television material at risk.
The Packard Campus
The physical work of storing and preserving materials selected under the Board’s guidance takes place at the Packard Campus of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia. The facility was converted from a former Federal Reserve Bank bunker at a cost of approximately $250 million and now holds more than five million audio-visual recordings. Its shelving for sound and moving-image collections runs to nearly 90 miles, and its 124 nitrate film vaults make it the largest nitrate storage facility in the western hemisphere.
Did you know
- The Packard Campus in Culpeper, Virginia, which supports the Board’s preservation activities, features a 200-seat theater capable of projecting both historic nitrate film and modern digital cinema. The theater includes an organ that rises from under the stage to accompany silent film screenings. (aoc.gov)
- The Packard Campus facility, which stores and preserves materials selected under the Board’s guidance, holds more than five million audio-visual recordings and was converted from a former Federal Reserve Bank bunker in Culpeper, Virginia, at a cost of approximately $250 million. (clui.org)
Data sources
Data updated: 2026-10-30