Update: State of Preservation in the BDC

Preservation Week is a good time to assess the state of preservation in the Beaufort District Collection.   The most basic principles - limiting ultraviolet light exposures, temperature and humidity extremes, and monitoring for leaks and pests - are in place. But archival processing for preservation has come to a standstill due to current circumstances related to public health, staffing levels and budget issues. This puts the BDC is its usual and customary position re: preservation. On the whole, we are worst off than some, and much better off than others, of our peers in the larger Libraries, Archives, and Museums community. In the process, we "know" things about preservation principles and practices to share. 

In previous years we have held workshops and programs for the public about how to properly take care of collections. Several factors prevent us from doing so this year. The BDC has been plagued by staff shortages since January 2020, and then there was COVID mitigation efforts that eliminated the possibility of gathering together in person.  Accordingly, the BDC's Preservation Week 2021 is another low-keyed celebration similar to PW 2020. 

In some ways a low-keyed acknowledgement fits the topic of materials preservation quite nicely.

The general public tends not to think too much about the true costs of stewardship of community and personal "treasures". There is a lot of lip service given to "preserving" history through monuments and historic documents, and often contributions towards the erection or acquisition of those items are made. I acknowledge that these offer "feel good moments" that we collectively and individually are "preserving history" - but few people think or donate money towards the daily costs of good stewardship of cultural heritage resources. Preservation isn't "sexy" or likely to go viral on social media but that does not mean that all is lost. Improvements can be made and a group banded together to raise awareness of principles of good stewardship in institutions, in organizations, and at homes all across America.

It's hard to believe that we are now in Year 11 of the annual awareness campaign to foster good stewardship of collections in libraries, archives, museums, historical societies and private hands.  In 2010, the American Library Association organized the first Preservation Week with the support of the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, Preservation and Reformatting Section; Library of Congress; Institute of Museum and Library Services ; American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works; Society of American Archivists ; and, Heritage Preservation.

The groundbreaking Heritage Health Index of 2005 was the first comprehensive national survey of the condition and preservation needs of collections held by U.S. libraries, museums, and archives. The conclusions of that report definitely affected my professional life from then until now. The study gave me evidence to advocate for relocation of the special collections unit and for better funding and eventually additional staff to help care for the contents of the special collections unit (though part of that staffing has now been reallocated to other library positions).

An update to the seminal report was issued in 2019 as "Protecting America's Collections." The 2019 report showed that significant improvements had been made since 2005 even as there remains much to do. The challenges wrought by insufficient staffing and funding for preservation continue. Quoting from the document's foreword : 

The nation's libraries, museums, historical societies, archives, and scientific institutions hold in their collections an incredible 13 billion items, from furniture to photos and sheet music to soil samples. These make up the tangible objects of our national heritage ... [spread among] museums (47%); libraries (35%), historical societies (12%), archives (3%), and other scientific organizations (2%). ... Some of the results also challenge traditional thinking about museums and libraries. [Libraries] hold 92% of our nation's photographic records [while] museums hold 96% of unbound sheets such as letters, artwork, notes, and other documents. And yet, small organizations, while supported by their communities, continue to struggle."

Q: Why is preservation of local materials important?

Small institutions hold important archives, maps, transactional records and other documents which are irreplaceable artifacts of cultural, governmental and community contexts. The modest budgets of many ... fail to give a fair notion of their importance in preserving our national heritage. - Dr. Kathryn K. Matthew

Q: What are some of the key challenges for local organizations holding cultural heritage collections? 

A. Environmental factors, such as light, heat, moisture, and pollutants can cause serious and irreparable harm to books, photographs, documents, works of art, and artifacts. It takes dedicated and knowledgeable staff, helpful and talented volunteers, and sufficient funds to properly take care of collections. The bottom line is:

Prevention is always better than intervention - and usually costs less as well. 

Q: What do we do here in the BDC Research Room to be good stewards of the materials entrusted into our safekeeping? 

Because money is always an issue, and "A stitch in time saves nine," here in the BDC we concentrate on low cost (or no cost) ways to mitigate harm to our collections:

A: We limit UV emissions from our light fixtures.
A: We cut off our lights when we don’t need them. Our storage area is kept dark except when staff is actively retrieving materials for customers to use.
A: We do not have windows in our materials storage area.
A: With Facilities Management personnel, we monitor the heat and humidity of our area all the time, making adjustments as conditions warrant.
A: We relocated to the 2nd floor a decade ago to rise above the flood plane.
A: We look up whenever there is a rainstorm – to make certain that our roof isn’t leaking.
A: We attend workshops and webinars on the best way to take care of our materials. Preservation is an evolving field. In fact, we don't even have to wear white cotton gloves as much as we used to!

Some of the basic prevention methods are as relevant to private collections as they are for institutional collections. For that reason, you'll find preservation tips for personal treasures in earlier Connections as well as on the BDC's Facebook page, particularly during Preservation Week each year. 

Check out the free webinars listed on the Preservation Week website and available as Collections Care videos, The NorthEast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) offers informative free pamphlets about preservation of paper-based, photographic and audio materials for download. And as always, if you have a preservation question I'll do my best to share correct and appropriate information sources to meet your needs.