Preservation awareness workshop

The Library of Congress will mark National Library Week with a
Preservation Awareness Workshop on April 16, 1996.  This event,
co-sponsored by the Library's Center for the Book and the
Preservation Directorate, will be free and open to the public.  It
will take place in the Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison
Building, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world.  It
contains more than 108 million items that include more than 16
million books, 4 million maps, 14 million photographs, 2 million
sound recordings, and 45 million manuscripts.  The mission of the
Library's Preservation Directorate is to preserve these collections
for future generations. Founded in 1972, the preservation program
has trained innumerable distinguished scientists, conservators and
other experts in the preservation field; the program is also open to
interns from all over the world, who learn while working on the
Library's unique collections.  Many of the methods developed at the
Library have become standard procedures in libraries and archives
worldwide.

During this special National Library Week event, the Library of
Congress is inviting the public to come and learn about preserving
their family treasures, such as photographs and letters.  The staff
will demonstrate different types of enclosures and boxes for storing
material and provide information on the damage caused by humidity,
temperature, light, and atmospheric pollution on paper-based material
and on the different types of boxes, folders, and enclosures now
available.

A wide range of companies that manufacture and distribute
conservation products will participate in the workshop, distributing
instructive information about preservation and conservation issues,
as well as samples such as acid-free papers, cotton gloves, and pH
pens, to workshop participants.  The media are also invited to
participate in this educational workshop.

The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress was established
in 1977 to stimulate public awareness about the importance of books,
reading, and libraries.

Merrily Smith
National Preservation Program Office
Library of Congress (LMG07)
Washington, DC 20540-4540
202-707-1838

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 9:41
                Distributed: Saturday, November 11, 1995
                        Message Id: cdl-9-41-007
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