The Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division (MIRS, pronounced “meers”) collects and preserves audio and moving image (AMI) materials related to the experiences of people of African descent. The division has amassed nearly 400 collections, approximately 5,000 square feet, in a variety of formats, which captures the gestures and sounds of major historical, artistic and cultural moments and influencers. While the strength is the Black American holdings there is considerable Caribbean and African representation in the collection.
Image caption: Arturo Schomburg, the founding collector and curator, and Catherine Latimer, the first Black librarian hired by The New York Public Library, in the original collection reading room with researchers, surrounded by the collection’s books, photos and art, c. 1930s.
