The public libraries in Longview and Marshall are collection points in an effort to digitize home movies and other films that showcase Texans through the generations. The Texas Archive of the Moving Image and the Texas Film Commission aim to preserve Texas’ media heritage through the Texas Film Round-Up program. The organizations are providing free digitization of Texas-related home movies, according to Longview Public Library media specialist Elissa Breitenstein.
"They're going to look at everything from the types of clothes people wore to the cars people drove," Breitenstein said. "Things like a child's birthday party may seem insignificant to us, but they're using these from a historical point of view."
The libraries will accept home movies, educational videos, local TV spots and other films, Breitenstein said. The original media will be returned to the owner, along with two DVD copies. She said the material can be presented in many different formats -- from VHS cassette tapes to 16mm film.
"If you take your films to an outside company to have them done, it can be pretty expensive to switch these over, so it's a really nice service and a great opportunity for our patrons to get this done for free," Breitenstein said.
The material collection ends March 3. The East Texas cities join three others that were chosen for this year’s roundup. Breitenstein said even if people don’t know what is on a video, it’s worth the effort to get it digitized. The DVD format is versatile, she said, and easy to post on Facebook to share the memory with family members anywhere.