Volume 26, Number 6
Oct 2003

Essential Elements for Starting a Library Preservation Program

This article is for you if you are in one of these categories: you have already identified the preservation of your materials as an area of concern, if your collection contains books valuable to your constituencies because of local interest or rarity, if you wonder what to do with numerous nineteenth- and early twentieth-century books printed on brittle paper, or if your library has books damaged by untrained but well-meaning staff members. At least one of these scenarios probably describes a great many of you.

Many elements are necessary to start and maintain a successful preservation program. Each one discussed here can be implemented independently, but a comprehensive program designed to have the greatest impact on a library's collections must include every one of them.

• Support from the library administration is essential. Preservation activities need to be institutionalized, and the higher the percentage of books in the categories described above, the more important that is. Since preserving them is neither easy nor inexpensive, the library director must decide where preservation responsibilities will be located in the organizational chart. Minor actions, such as dusting books and closing window blinds, can be handled without a program per se, but libraries with many old, deteriorated or valuable volumes need the organization and direction that a full-fledged program provide.
• One staff member needs to hold ultimate responsibility for the preservation program, and the duties must be incorporated into that person's job description. These are some of the typical duties: formulate policies and procedures for the preservation and physical treatment of all library materials, evaluate and determine treatment options, perform or supervise other staff members who perform appropriate treatment on materials, have ultimate responsibility for stacks maintenance, including book dusting, and determines appropriate housing for materials, including phase boxes. Typically, the person in charge of preservation is in the technical services department, but will be in charge of educating all staff members about preservation and for coordinating preservation activities throughout the library.
• A budget line should be established. The Association of Research Libraries has determined that an appropriate amount is 3-5 percent of the library's acquisitions budget. Therefore, a library which spends $1 million for acquisitions should plan to spend $30-$50 thousand to preserve its collection. The budget covers reformatting costs (microfilming or preservation photocopying only, since digitizing does not preserve intellectual content long-term), equipment, supplies, specialty binding services such as individual phase boxes or hinge boxes, pamphlet binders or other types of archival-quality housing for items which need protection on the shelf, as well as fees for a one-time consultant to assist in setting up a program or in conducting a collection survey. It is important that the costs of preserving materials be incorporated into the costs of acquiring them. Donors of books should be asked to make a contribution to help preserve them. Other sources of funds: a portion of the acquisitions or supplies budgets, user fees, and fundraising.
• A survey of your library's current preservation activities and building conditions needs to be compiled in-house or by an outside consultant. The leaflet, "What an Institution can do to Survey its own Preservation Needs" is a comprehensive listing of areas to be considered. It is available from the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) at 508-470-1010. Another helpful listing is the NEDCC Technical Leaflet, "Priority Actions for Preservation," found at the website http://www.nedcc.org. Those responsible for the building structure, HVAC system, and fire protection need to be consulted. A needs-assessment survey, including specific goals and objectives for programs, will be included in the final report. Large libraries with numerous separate collections may need to conduct additional surveys to determine the needs of each one.
• Based on the findings of the survey, priorities can be determined. Conditions which immediately endanger the collection, such as a leaking roof or faulty wiring, need to be addressed first. As far as collections are concerned, staff members need to decide which titles, special collections, or other categories have the most pressing needs. Is the foreign and international law collection without peers in the region but in poor condition? Are the spines of the state reporters loose and in danger of coming off entirely? Is the rare book collection in need of dusting and improved ventilation? The NEDCC Technical Leaflet, "Considerations for Prioritizing," discusses many factors relevant to this decision-making process and has a grid for charting the impact and the feasibility of possible preservation actions.
• Physical plant staff should correct deficiencies and improve environmental conditions, especially those which stabilize the temperature and relative humidity levels, and prevent the growth of mold. Since many of these projects are large-scale, budgeting for them may be a challenge. Investigate amortizing the expenditures over several years. Those with veto power will need convincing evidence of the necessity of these large amounts. Be prepared with statistics from Conservation OnLine (CoOL) documents found at http://palimpsest.stanford.edu. Such large-scale projects are not the only steps which can have a positive effect, however. Several small-scale changes, such as blocking radiant heat from radiators and weatherstripping doors, are in another NEDCC Technical Leaflet, "Low-Cost/No-Cost Improvements in Climate Control." Do as much as possible in this regard because improving environmental controls is the preservation action with the greatest long-term impact on collections.
• All available options for repairs, reformatting, boxing, binding, replacing, and housing need to be identified. Contact other area librarians for the sources they use and their comments, pro or con. Investigate the services of your commercial binder but don't stop there. Since their services are of high quality, they will be more expensive than work done in-house. That level of workmanship may be justified only for rare books. Alternatively, sturdy, acid-free phase boxes can be made quickly and inexpensively in-house. Consider cooperating with other law libraries to reformat a title in poor condition or to contract with a publisher to reprint a title or set.
• A staff member should be trained to do standard book repairs. This person needs to have dexterity in order to work with paper and books and be attentive to details. Set aside a space for the repairs, even if it is shared. Use only archival-quality materials. Two companies which supply them are University Products (http://www.universityproducts.com) and Gaylord (http://www.gaylord.com). Refer to two leaflets at the AMIGOS website (http://www.amigos.org): "AMIGOS Book Repair Workshop Supplies List" and "Selecting Preservation Supplies: Some Basic Guidelines." A source for basic information on book repair is part of the Gaylord Preservation Pathfinder Series and can be found at http://www.gaylord.com/pams/Path4.pdf.
• This same staff member should be trained at a hands-on workshop. Locate a workshop or someone qualified to teach one through contacts with area librarians. If there are no workshops available locally, one library or several can contract with NEDCC, SOLINET (http://www.solinet.net), or the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts (http://www.ccaha.org). Each one of them has staff members who conduct workshops for a travel fee.
• Full-fledged preservation programs are characterized by several written documents. A long-range preservation plan spells out specifically what needs to be done in order to reach certain goals. For instance, a library with afternoon sunlight shining on bookstacks from uncovered windows could plan to purchase and install floor-to-ceiling blinds on all affected windows. Another library, which shelves books close to ceiling tiles in violation of its fire code, may shift books or move them to off-site storage in order to prevent a disaster. A source to use for writing this plan is Sherylyn Ogden's Preservation Planning: Guidelines for Writing a Long-Range Plan published by NEDCC in 1997. It can be obtained from the American Association of Museums at 202-289-9127. Assistance for compiling a disaster plan is at the SOLINET website. These are vital in any type of emergency and need to be updated annually. Libraries also need written contracts with their commercial binderies. The contract should refer to the newest binding industry standard, ANSI/NISO/LBI Z39.78-2000, downloadable at http://www.niso.org.
• Resources to learn about preservation take several forms. There are numerous helpful websites. Make use of their articles, forms, products, and other information. NEDCC's website contains two outstanding resources: Preservation 101, an online course, and the third edition of Preservation of Library & Archival Materials: A Manual. Don't overlook print sources, as they are more comprehensive than most individual websites. Investigate workshops in topics such as library binding and disaster planning.
• Programs on preservation should be conducted for staff and patrons. Since knowing how best to care for materials is not intuitive, everyone who has contact with library materials needs to be taught how to reinforce the actions of those on the staff who are responsible for preservation measures. This web- program from Northwestern University has cute graphics and is a useful tool about care and handling of books: http://staffweb.library.northwestern.edu/preservation/chlm/index.html.
• Grants are available to help cover the expenses of setting up a preservation program and for specific projects, such as those to microform or digitize collections. Check out the SOLINET website for a leaflet called "Funding Resources for Preservation." Preservation Assistance Grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (http://www.neh.gov) cover expenses for consultations with preservation professionals, general preservation or conservation assessments, attendance at preservation workshops and training programs, and the purchase of preservation supplies and equipment.

Making the tough decisions needed to preserve library materials is an essential part of managing a library. Think about your own collection. Can you readily identify volumes in need of attention? Has a water leak been patched but not entirely fixed? Are you spending too much money to have books rebound which could be repaired in-house? Do you have a number of books set aside for attention but no one trained to make repairs? Your materials are too valuable to be ignored once they are purchased and shelved. These tips will help you to make strides to preserve them. Good luck in your efforts!

This article originally appeared in AALL Spectrum, v.6 no. 7 (April 2002), p. 10-11.