ANN ARBOR—No 16-screen theater here. No popcorn, nachos or drinks. But the University of Michigan’s Film and Video Library (FVL) does have more than 15,000 titles and serves thousands of U-M faculty, staff and students from the Ann Arbor, Flint and Dearborn campuses.

The thousands of titles include feature films, dramas, instructional videos, animated shorts, commercials, experimental films/videos, film essays, training videos, television news magazine segments, and documentaries, all covering a broad range of academic fields. Although the Library was originally founded as a 16 mm film library (a format it no longer acquires), VHS videocassettes now account for more than half of the collection with video laserdiscs and interactive CD-ROM titles being added to the mix.

During a recent academic year, FVL provided materials for classroom use in every school and college of U-M’s three campuses. These materials were used in nearly 7,000 classes, meetings, and training sessions with a total combined audience of more than 400,000, enough viewers to fill the U-M football stadium four times over. Of these viewers, 326,000 were in level undergraduate courses and 61,000 were in the upper level and graduate courses.

The Library, through its The Video Alternative (TVA) program, makes a select collection of foreign language features, classic films, dramas, music and dance performances, documentaries and special interest videos available for home viewing by U-M Library patrons. Arrangements can be made through the Reserves Desk in Room 2002 of the Shapiro Undergraduate Library. There is no charge for TVA items, but students will be charged $1 per day for overdue videos.

While technically a non-circulating, curriculum support collection with access limited to U-M faculty and staff for use in or preparation for U-M courses, scholarly research, training sessions, meetings and other U-M programs, individuals and groups can schedule viewings or showings.

The Film and Video Library works closely with U-M faculty to build a collection that meets their instructional, training, and research needs. The Library actively solicits faculty input regarding selection of the approximately 800 new titles added to the collection each year. The FVL also provides reference and consultation service to assist patrons in selecting and utilizing media components for their courses or special film/video programs.

Descriptions of titles in TVA are available in the MCAT database in MIRLYN (the U-M’s computerized library system) or by consulting the TVA notebooks at the Reserve Desk, Shapiro’s Reference Desk or the Film and Video Library Scheduling Office in Room 2178 in Shapiro. For additional information, patrons can call the Film and Video Library at (734) 764-5360.

MIRLYN