AIC's 46th Annual Meeting

Conversations with Book and Paper Group colleagues at the 2017 meeting in Chicago and in the following months revealed a common interest in how library conservation practice is changing in the 21st century. Through in-person, phone and email exchanges, fellow conservators and preservation administrators have shared their observations and concerns about adapting to shifting institutional priorities. These include prioritizing treatment of certain types of materials over others, responding to and meeting broader institutional goals, and the challenges such changes present to traditional models of staffing and divisions of labor in library conservation labs. A panel of speakers (listed below) from a variety of libraries and archives will offer short presentations that explore both the day-to-day issues and the big picture implications surrounding these concerns. An interactive discussion with the audience will follow to allow for questions, comments, and sharing of experiences.

Ellen Cunningham-Kruppa, Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin
Prevention and Promotion Round-up
Ellen will discuss new approaches to managing the Preservation and Conservation Division at the Humanities Research Center, concentrating operations and providing ladders of professional advancement for conservators and technicians.

Werner Haun, Yale University Library
From DIY to Collaboration and Innovation: Observations on the evolution of collections conservation
In its beginnings, collections conservation work included identifying early signs of damage (such as loose hinges and pages), creating in-house archival housings (such as pamphlet binders and phase boxes), and increasing widget counts. Through automation and collaboration with commercial binders and vendors, many innovations and improvements advanced the quality and variety of products and services, allowing libraries and archives to outsource much of the routine work. Now, conservators and technicians can perform more complex treatments for all collections, while still applying production-based approaches.

Laura McCann and Jessica Pace, New York University Libraries
Preservation Librarian to Preventive Conservator: Shifting Priorities in Collection Care at NYU Libraries
Over the past ten years, NYU Libraries' Barbara Goldsmith Preservation & Conservation department changed the focus of its collections care program from the general collections to the special collections in order to meet new and growing needs. Since the 1990's, NYU’s archival collections grew exponentially in both size and complexity. In response, the position of Preservation Librarian evolved into that of Preventive Conservator, a newly emerging specialization. We will discuss the evolution of the position as well as its benefits and challenges. Topic addressed will include the impact of high-density off-site storage, changing collecting patterns, and specific needs for artists' archives.

Ashleigh Schieszer, The Preservation Lab (Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County/ University of Cincinnati Library)
Teaming up on Treatments
This presentation will highlight the role of the conservator as project manager, reconsidering the conventional division of work between conservators, technicians, interns, and student workers; with a focus on each member’s role in increasing visibility of special and medium rare collections. The conservation workflow of a unique WWII era scrapbook illustrates a team-oriented work style between conservator, technicians and students. Parceling the large treatment into smaller segments utilized skills to reduce costs and timelines that directly lead to heightened usability and accessibility of the materials.

Lauren Telepak, Harvard University Library
Shifting conservation strategies in Harvard Library Preservation Services
Harvard Library Preservation Services is positioning its conservation practices to better respond to library initiatives and priorities which include an increased commitment to digital formats, acquiring unique materials and building collaborative collections. This talk will explore how a recent shift to a unified management of the general and special collections conservation labs has allowed the department to develop cross training opportunities for conservators and conservation technicians to develop skill-sets that can be strategically deployed to address future needs.

Sonya Barron, Iowa State University
Doing more with what you’ve got, and doing it differently!
Preservation priorities of the university library have shifted to lean heavily towards investing in rare and unique materials and away from general collections, as is the case with many academic libraries. Preservation staff members, who have been doing the same kind of work for decades, now find themselves in a position of needing training to perform their new duties. In this talk I will discuss the challenge of responding to change creatively as a manager, while operating under the constriction of state funding cuts and within union limitations.