Library of American Broadcasting Scripts collection
Collection
0189-MMC
The Library of American Broadcasting Scripts Collection is a collection of radio and television scripts gathered from several sources and donations by the original staff of the Library of American Broadcasting. Dating from 1925 to 1991, these scripts are the actual scripts used by radio and television performers. Many of the scripts contain the hand-written markings the performers created as they were preparing the script for broadcast. These scripts document almost seventy years of radio and television broadcasting and represent a variety of genres, including comedy, drama, soap operas, quiz programs, news programs, and music programs.
There are no restricted files in this collection.
Photocopies of original materials may be provided for a fee and at the discretion of the curator. Please see our Duplication of Materials policy for more information. Queries regarding publication rights and copyright status of materials within this collection should be directed to the appropriate curator.
10.50 Linear Feet
The Library of American Broadcast Script Collection represents all forms of radio and television programming from 1925 to 1991, including drama, comedy, music, and news programming.
The Library of American Broadcasting (LAB)was established as the Broadcast Pioneers Library (BPL) by the Broadcast Pioneers Educational Fund, Inc., now the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation, Inc, to preserve the history of radio and television broadcasting. The BPL/LAB accomplished this goal by collecting books, magazines, photographs, personal papers, audio recordings, film and video records, and, of course, radio and television scripts. The BPL was dedicated on April 19, 1972 and was originally located on the ground floor of the headquarters building of the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington, DC. In 1994, The BPEF moved the BPL to the University of Maryland to join the National Public Broadcasting Archives, which was already in place.
The collection is arranged alphabetically by program title and by date if more than one episode of a program is present. Due to this simple arrangeement, the collection is arranged into only one series: Radio and Television Scripts.
The Library of American Broadcasting Script Collection came to the University of Maryland in 1994 as part of the Broadcast Pioneers Library
Part of the Special Collections and University Archives