{"id":4669,"title":"Albany Public Library: Video and the Library (1977)","kind":"biblio","url":"https://www.videohistoryproject.org/video-and-library-1977","version":"ebbe1f6cfcc8e6ba966dddc4ebb8f35c6d6385c0a13047fd0b1a746d95832459","modified":"2026-09-13T21:52:08.1475407+00:00","credits":[],"authorKeys":[],"subjects":["Groups"],"metadata":[{"label":"Date","value":"1977","url":null},{"label":"Group location","value":"Albany, New York","url":null},{"label":"Group","value":"Albany Public Library","url":null}],"citations":{"page":"\u0022Video and the Library (1977).\u0022 Video History Project, Experimental Television Center, 2026. https://www.videohistoryproject.org/video-and-library-1977.","publication":"Video and the Library (1977). 1977.","risUrl":"https://www.videohistoryproject.org/citation/4669.ris"},"links":[],"sections":[{"name":"body","source":"VHP record body","generated":false,"characters":5495},{"name":"summary","source":"existing VHP generated summary","generated":true,"characters":717}],"content":{"section":"body","source":"VHP record body","generated":false,"text":"Excerpt from \u0022Video and New York State Libraries\u0022 Videoscope 1977 \u0022Public access programming is just another kind of information retrieval system. Although the information is not stored in the library, it comes from the library and it\u0027s the library\u0027s job to make information available whether it be interviewing a congressman or doing a story hour, it\u0027s the same sort of stuff that\u0027s already in libraries. It\u0027s a way of hitting a mass audience. \u0022 Bob Katz, Media Librarian, Albany The Albany Public Library is the central library of the Upper Hudson Library Federation System of 25 libraries. APL may be one of the first in New York State to house and be the delivery point for a live public access studio facility. By the time you read this they should be cablecasting from their new library to the 25,000 cable subscribers in Albany and nearby counties. When I spoke with APL\u0027s Media Librarian Bob Katz last August, there were still many administrative details to be worked out and potential problems anticipated. Katz doesn\u0027t want total administrative control of the channel in the library, but he does want authority over who uses the library\u0027s equipment. He still sees the very active Albany Community Video Project (ACVP), a local access group that has been running the channel, producing 90 percent of the programming, but using the library\u0027s facilities. The library\u0027s video equipment has been acquired gradually since 1970 when their first portapak, purchased through LSCA, was used for summer film/ video workshops to bring \u0022disadvantaged\u0022 kids into the library. They have continued to receive support for year-round workshops from NYSCA, but the library has yet to build up its own budget to take over video/access maintenance and/or programming costs, except for salaries. In order to have some money to fall back on, Katz is thinking of charging a token sum for the use of the library studio. It\u0027s a novel idea, but does threaten to make access prohibitive to some people if the rates increase. Katz wouldn\u0027t mind if he could get \u0022rid of some of the bad programming\u0022 and the \u0022all night people who come on and just play records.\u0022 This poses the problem of whether (and how) a librarian should decide what programming is cabled, if the library is responsible for operating the public access channel. Right now, the library itself is not programming too much on cable. Occasionally they will produce a children\u0027s drama workshop, tape a holiday parade or do a roving camera report on current events for immediate playback on the channel. They would like to tape visiting artists and writers at the library, do more children\u0027s programs, and get the nearby senior citizen home involved in programming. \u0022It would be a natural place for them to come-depending on their needs-maybe some just need to keep occupied for an hour, maybe some would like to learn a skill or a hobby . . .\u0022 The ideas are there-all they need is money to implement them. There\u0027s enough good programming around for the channel right now without the library producing, especially with video artists like Tom DeWitt working with the ACVP and encouraging people to use the medium. Other problems include staffing the library after normal hours. Right now the regular staff doesn\u0027t like or understand much of what it has seen on public access. \u0022There is some junk, but there\u0027s a lot of good stuff too . . . There\u0027s a need to keep the channel lit up so that people will turn it on and see something there.\u0022 Another more serious problem is what happens when \u0022questionable\u0022 programming comes out of the library. \u0022How do you deal with someone who wants to donate money to the library when they see something they think is obscene or they don\u0027t like and we say, \u00B4That\u0027s our obligation to the public to put that on, . . . The FCC law says you have to do it and we\u0027re the only access point . . .\u0022 The library is definitely in a politically sensitive position here because its economic base can be threatened. The LSCA-funded Adult Independent Learner Project is also widening the library\u0027s videosphere; two 3/4-inch U cassette playback/record units will be available in carrels for screening of preproduced purchased programming. Two more units will be available for programming these tapes over the cable. Katz does not want to get too involved with the \u0022traditional\u0022 library service approach for fear the Library will take over. \u0022The Library should be there to facilitate the community\u0027s needs and desires, not its own.\u0022 However, he would be interested in developing a video-reference component to program specific times when people could call up for visual information such as maps. This might be especially good for senior citizens unable to get to the Library. They\u0027ve loaned equipment periodically to community groups but need money for more portapaks to do it regularly. Katz does not think the Library should be the only community access facility. How will the library know what the public access viewers want/need/desire? The Library has hired two CETA workers through the Albany Department of Human Development to specifically research cable and public access. A telephone survey will help to assess what programming viewers like, dislike or don\u0027t want, and what level of professionalism is expected. They are also researching funding sources and canvassing other libraries with cable projects to decide how APL can further its existence as a community information center and meet people\u0027s needs by using public access.","offset":0,"nextOffset":null,"totalCharacters":5495,"complete":true},"rightsUrl":"https://www.videohistoryproject.org/terms-service"}