1

The Video Inn Library provided screening opportunities and distribution via tape exchange for independent producers and community groups who lacked venues for their work as well as access to alternative media for the public at large. Goldberg reflected on the scene at the time:

"We were one of the few video groups oriented to a general public, and we truly welcomed people in our doors. Our four viewing bays were often filled with viewers of all sorts: students, people on social assistance, passers-by, video makers from out-of-town, etc."

People came to watch the library tapes, or to use the playback equipment to view their own recordings. Any tape submitted to the library was accepted. Production quality was not a consideration; video's role as a democratic communication tool was of primary importance to the collective.

Crista Dahl designed a cataloguing system that took into account the subject-driven nature of production and the viewership at that time. Just as the videotapes in the library covered a broad spectrum of interests, the communities who used the library were just as diverse and included dancers, midwives (an illegal profession at the time), educators, artists, and activists involved in numerous social and political movements, including the feminist, gay liberation, First Nations, ecology, anti-nuclear, and poverty movements.

In three years, the Video Inn tape collection grew from 80 to over 600 tapes.

"More people coming in/phoning/relating to us as a resource centre. It’s great but I’m hoarse by the time I leave." - excerpt from Video Inn daybook June 12, 1978.




Sources:
Crista Dahl Media Library & Archive
"Making Video 'In'", Editor Jennifer Abbott, Video In Studios, 2000.
"Anamnesia: Unforgetting", Editor Amy Kazymerchyk, VIVO Media Arts Centre, 2013.

2

Browsing in the library
Circa 1984
Video Inn, 261 Powell Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


3

Janet Miller, Paul Wong on couch, Rex, and Ross Gentleman in the Video Inn Library viewing room
Circa 1974
Video Inn, 261 Powell Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Credits:
Photo: Kazumi Tanaka

4

Crista Dahl: The Video Inn Library early years
2013
VIVO Media Arts Centre, 1965 Main Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


Credits:
Interviewer: Kevin Doherty
Cameraperson: Anna MacDonald
Editor: Kevin Doherty
Transcript: Kevin Doherty

5

Matthew Speier installation
Circa 1974
Video Inn, 261 Powell Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


6

Video Inn Library viewing room 3/4" UMATIC playback station
Circa late-70s
Video Inn, 261 Powell Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

7

Video Inn Library 1981
1981
Video Inn, 261 Powell Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


8

Shawn Preus: The Video Inn Library
2013
VIVO Media Arts Centre, 1965 Main Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Credits:
Interviewer: Kevin Doherty
Recorder: Anna MacDonald
Editor: Kevin Doherty
Transcript: Kevin Doherty

9

Video Inn Library Tape Log
28 October 1984
Video Inn, 261 Powell Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


10

Print Library
Circa late-70s
Video Inn, 261 Powell Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


11

The print library visible from Powell Street
1984
Video Inn, 261 Powell Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

12

Filing Cabinets with national and international print material
Circa late-70s
Video Inn, 261 Powell Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


13

Dahl's mnemonic device for Video Inn filing
Circa late-70s
Video Inn, 261 Powell Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


14

Library index cards
Circa late-70s
Video Inn, 261 Powell Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT