Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study

The Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study is the home of the Academy's Margaret Herrick Library. It is a restored, refurbished and expanded Spanish-Romanesque building that originally housed the City of Beverly Hills' Water Treatment Plant No. 1. Built in 1927, the building was abandoned in 1976, when Beverly Hills began to purchase its water from the Los Angeles Metropolitan Water District. In March of 1988, the city of Beverly Hills accepted a proposal by the Academy that the Water-works be restored to house the Library and the Academy Film Archive. Work was completed over the next two years and the Center for Motion Picture Study opened in 1991.

In May of 2002 the Center was renamed the Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study in honor of the first president of the Academy, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.

The Library is one of the most complete collections of film-related materials ever assembled. It includes books, pamphlets, periodicals, still photographs, scripts, clippings files, personal and business correspondence, production memoranda, sketches, sheet music, music scores and scrapbooks. The Academy Film Archive moved to new quarters in Hollywood in July 2002 and the Library expanded into the vacated space.