By MARTHA HOPKINS
For more than 65 years, the Interpretive Programs Office (IPO), formerly the Exhibits Office, has displayed the Library of Congress’s incomparable collections to the general public in an intellectually and visually compelling manner. More than 1,500 exhibitions on almost as many subjects have been mounted since the early 1940s. Many of these have been viewed locally, nationally, and internationally either on-site, through the Library’s traveling exhibition program, or on its Web sites at www.loc.gov/exhibits/ and myLOC.gov.
“Most people do not recognize the complexity of creating exhibitions,” said IPO exhibition director Cheryl Regan. “Developing an exhibition is a collaborative process, which often lasts several years and always involves numerous people inside and outside of the Library of Congress.”
Staffing
IPO comprises 16 staff members, including the Interpretive Programs Officer (chief). The staff works closely with curators in the custodial divisions that house the Library’s collections to explore a subject, shape it into an exhibition, and develop related educational programs that amplify its themes in an intellectually sound and engaging way.
IPO also hires a wide variety of contractors, such as designers, film researchers, and production companies to produce film segments or interactive programs. Translators may also be hired for foreign-language material. In the case of “Exploring the Early Americas,” an epigrapher was hired to translate the glyphs found on pre-Columbian vessels.
Development Process
Exhibitions typically begin with submission of a proposal to IPO. The proposal is presented to the Library’s Exhibitions Policy Review Committee (EPRC), which is chaired by the Associate Librarian for Library Services, and consists of Library managers, including the Interpretive Programs Officer.
The EPRC evaluates proposals on the basis of suitability for presentation at the Library—that is, whether the proposed exhibitions are based on intellectual and scholarly principles consistent with the educational objectives and mission of the Library and whether they have the potential to be funded by outside sources. At least half the content of Library exhibitions must come from the Library’s collections.
Once the EPRC approves an exhibition, IPO’s chief assigns it to an IPO exhibition director, who serves as project manager. Exhibition directors coordinate all activities related to the exhibition with various Library divisions. They also serve as liaisons with outside organizations that may be involved in an exhibition. Specifically, they draw on the expertise of scholars and individuals inside and outside the Library to develop the exhibition’s scope and content, and they work with designers to develop an effective visual presentation for exhibit artifacts and exhibit-related publications.
“Multi-tasking is a job requirement,” said Kim Curry, IPO’s acting chief. “Exhibition directors often work on numerous projects simultaneously, each project having its own demanding deadlines. It’s never boring.”
Another key member of the development team is the exhibition curator, the person with specialized knowledge of the subject matter and the collections. The curator is usually an expert from a Library custodial division or an outside scholar hired on contract.
Curators are often surprised at the amount of work and the number of steps involved in producing an exhibition. “It’s staggering what goes into an exhibit,” said retired Copyright Office staff member Frank Evina, who served as curator of the “Wizard of Oz” exhibition in 2000. “I appreciated having IPO’s experienced hands to show me the ropes.”
The object selection process is a cooperative effort between the curator, who knows the division’s collections, and the IPO exhibition director, who knows how to make exhibitions appealing to the public. For major exhibitions, IPO often convenes a panel of outside experts who serve as advisors. They suggest ways to approach a subject and to assure an even-handed presentation of themes and materials.
“IPO staff members were able to see things about the Roger Stevens Collection that I hadn’t because I was so closely involved with it,” said Walter Zvonshenko of the Music Division, who worked with IPO as curator on the 2002 “Roger Stevens Presents” exhibition. “Their insights made the exhibition themes stronger than they might have been had I been the only person working on them.”
Rosemary Plakas of the Library’s Rare Book and Special Collections Division added, “Having worked with IPO staff for nearly 25 years, I appreciate the vital role they play in celebrating our cultural heritage by sharing the Library’s rich collections with a larger constituency. Whether they are installing a major exhibition or preparing a temporary display, the IPO team consistently works professional magic to enhance the intellectual and visual appeal and optimize the educational experience of every presentation.”
Funding
Securing the requisite funding is a key step in exhibition planning. IPO’s staff is paid from funds appropriated by Congress, but exhibitions must be paid for with gift funds. Exhibition costs can range from $100,000 for a small display to millions of dollars for a major presentation such as the new multimedia Library of Congress Experience.
Rarely does an exhibition proposal arrive with a guaranteed source of funding. Therefore, IPO is responsible for drafting funding proposals based on knowledge of the concept, the objects to be displayed, and the costs involved. The Library’s Development Office identifies potential donors and approaches those who may be interested in supporting the project. In the best of times, fundraising is not an easy task, and in bad economic times, it can be most challenging.
Conservation
IPO staff members have the requisite knowledge of conservation and museum practices to safely install rare, valuable and fragile artifacts. They work closely with the Library’s Conservation Office to ensure that the highest conservation standards are used in the transfer, handling, and display of the Library’s unique and priceless artifacts.
The Conservation Office evaluates proposed exhibition items to determine if they can be exhibited without being put at risk. It also sets requirements for display, such as specifying at what angle books can be opened and allowable lighting levels. Conservation also cleans, repairs and stabilizes items that need attention and loads flat items into mats for display.
Specialized housing is required for rare and intrinsically valuable collection materials. For example, the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence has been permanently installed in a mounting filled with inert gases to prevent deterioration from light and humidity. Some exhibition cases for especially valuable items, such as the Gutenberg Bible, have built-in climate control and lighting.
Design
IPO also works closely with exhibition designers to give each installation a unique look suitable for the subject matter. Designers present several options for floor plans, case and wall design, special exhibit elements, color schemes, logos, type fonts and methods of mounting objects, depending on the unique characteristics of each exhibit. Once the exhibition team is satisfied with the design, the designer prepares specifications for cases, text panels, banners, a brochure, poster, signage and any other materials needed to fabricate and mount the exhibition.
Production
IPO’s highly skilled and experienced exhibition production specialists, under the direction of Production Officer Deborah Durbeck, prepare for installation. They review the designer’s construction drawings and oversee contracts to fabricate walls, cases, mounts, graphic panels and other design elements, often overseeing numerous contracts simultaneously.
Production specialists carefully measure exhibition items, which may need to be matted and framed. Their skills range from interpreting complex blueprints to making mounts for delicate objects. They also must have the strength to manage and lift large case doors and heavy vitrines (covers) that fit onto cases.
During the production phase, draft exhibition text and labels are written by the curator or subject specialist. In IPO, the text and labels are edited to make them suitable for display. Exhibit text must be short and yet give visitors information about the objects and themes on display. “Discovery Labels” highlight items of special interest to children and families and make the exhibition content relevant and interesting to them.
Programming
Through the efforts of its education specialist, Susan Mordan-White, IPO develops an array of public programs in conjunction with Library exhibitions that are designed to appeal to visitors of all ages. She conducts group and individual tours of Library exhibitions for student groups, youth organizations, and adult visitors, as well as training the Library’s docents to lead exhibition tours.
Held in the exhibition areas, “Gallery Talks,” IPO’s longest running public program series, has featured hundreds of curators and staff specialists from across the Library sharing their expertise with the public.
Working with the Library’s Office of Strategic Initiatives Educational Outreach Office, Mordan-White also develops teacher institutes that help educators around the country develop strategies to incorporate online Library exhibitions in the classroom.
IPO also works with the custodial divisions and the Office of Scholarly Programs to sponsor exhibition-related lectures and symposia that bring recent scholarship to the Library. When an exhibition budget allows, IPO works with the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division to develop an exhibition-related film series drawn from the Library’s collections of feature films, documentaries and television broadcasts. These programs are shown at the Mary Pickford Theater in Washington and at the Library’s new state-of-the art Packard Campus in Culpeper, Va.
Online Exhibitions
In addition to the physical exhibitions on display at the Library, IPO prepares online exhibitions to reach those who cannot visit in-person. These online exhibitions, which become a permanent record of the exhibition, incorporate the elements of the physical exhibition in a separate development process.
IPO online exhibition director Betsy Nahum-Miller arranges for all objects to be digitized by the Library’s Digital Scan Center, part of the Information Technology Services office in the Library’s Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI). These scans, along with the exhibition text and labels, are entered into a Content Management System by OSI’s Web Services team. The team then formats the material for the “Exhibitions” section of the Library’s Web site.
“As we move to online exhibitions that pull from a Content Management System, we are undergoing a learning curve in working with this new structure,” said Nahum-Miller. “Close cooperation between IPO and OSI has always been critical to the success of the Library’s online exhibitions and this collaboration is more important than ever as we transition to the new approach.”
Traveling Exhibitions and Loan Program
The Library’s exhibitions have a long history—dating from the turn of the 20th century—of traveling to other institutions and cultural organizations. In the past 15 years, the Library’s diverse exhibitions have traveled to 121 venues in 43 states, reaching nearly 4.3 million people in the United States. Library exhibitions have also traveled to 17 venues in 11 foreign countries on four continents. To host a Library of Congress exhibition, a venue must meet strict eligibility requirements that include the ability to control temperature, humidity and lighting, and to adhere to specific security guidelines.
Other institutions may also borrow from the Library’s collections. IPO’s Registrar’s Office makes available many of the Library’s rare and unique objects to recognized institutions and agencies with established exhibition programs. Each request for loan is judged on its particular merits but the proposed venue must have an acceptable physical environment and full-time, professional staff proficient in handling the particular material requested. Additionally, the number of items from the Library of Congress cannot exceed 49 percent of the total number of objects in the exhibition. There is no loan fee to borrow items from the Library but the borrower is responsible for all direct costs, including insurance.
“Not only can people view the Library’s exhibitions in person and online, but qualified institutions may be able to host a Library traveling exhibition in their home town or borrow items from the nation’s library to include in their exhibitions,” said Tambra Johnson, head of IPO’s Registrar’s Office.
Martha Hopkins is an exhibition director
in the Interpretive Programs Office. IPO staff members Kim Curry and Cheryl Regan also contributed to this story.