Library & Archives

 
 
 

The BBMT Library and Archives originally served as Bob Baker’s personal studio for creating productions throughout his lifetime. In addition to hundreds of theater performances and roadshows, Bob Baker Productions was also heavily involved in Hollywood theatrical productions and commercial studios.

Our collections are made up of the source material and inspiration for the conception of these works; cassette tapes and ¼” audio tape that made the soundtracks for each show; over 3,000 vinyl records that provided inspiration for these soundtracks, concept art of puppets and sets designs; audiovisual materials that document appearances and performances; and books, magazines, and image clippings make up a visual reference library.

We hope to make our Library & Archives publicly accessible in the future, and are working toward the process through scanning, auditing, and preserving these materials. If you would like to support this vision for our Library and Archives you can make a tax-deductible donation to help us continue to preserve these works and a publicly accessible future.

 

Announcing the René Zendejas Archive

In partnership with Joe Selph, we are proud to announce BBMT is taking on the stewardship of the archive and puppet collection of the legendary puppeteer and puppet builder, René Zendejas.

Thanks to a grant from the Cooks/Mark foundation, we are able to incorporate this extensive collection into Bob Baker Marionette Theater, preserve its puppets, ephemera, and material, and honor the legacy of Zendejas through public programming and educational resources.

Learn more

For a playful trip through the past, present and future of the Theater - allow Bobo to be your guide

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SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR PAST ARCHIVISTS:

  • Sydney Kysar was first introduced to libraries and archives while volunteering as a muralist in elementary school libraries as a teenager in Los Angeles. Their work in various archives, including Warner Music Group, Marist Archives & Special Collections, the American Museum of Natural History, Edward Yang, UCLA, the Getty Research Institute, and now at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater has consistently blended their background in art with a passion for archival preservation. Sydney received a degree in Digital Media: Animation from Marist College, a certificate in 2D Character Animation from Gobelins Paris, and will receive a Master’s in Library & Information Science at UCLA in 2025. As an award-winning animator and published illustrator, the theater's new archivist brings a unique perspective to Bob Baker's library and archive. Sydney loves the incredible people and community surrounding the Bob Baker Marionette Theater and is dedicated to preserving its history through storytelling and the conservation of concept art, audiovisual materials, rare books, and oral histories.

  • Adam began volunteering at the theater in 2016 shortly after he moved to Los Angeles, and soon became the theater’s first archivist. Brianna began assisting Adam in September of 2017 with the 1/4” audio tape collection, and began helping with the library as a whole later that year. After the theater announced it was leaving their Echo Park location in the Fall of 2018, they were responsible for moving the ~1,000 linear feet of these materials to the new theater space in Highland Park, which was completed in the Summer of 2019.

    Both Adam and Brianna were 2018-2019 recipients of the UCLA/Mellon Foundation Internship Project, which was part of Dr. Michelle Caswell's UCLA Community Archives Lab. It was with the grant funding provided by the Mellon that they were able to document the Theater's collections and move the library and archives to the new location.

    They have presented their work at the Theater for the 2018 Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) Annual Conference panel: "The Bob Baker Marionette Theater: Archiving with Oral Histories" and have also published on it for the Spring 2019 Performance! Newsletter of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) Performing Arts Section in the article "Preserving Place: Moving the Bob Baker Marionette Theater."