Preserving and Protecting America's Library
he mission of the Preservation Directorate is to assure long-term access to the intellectual content of the Library's collections, either in original or reformatted form. Selection for preservation is determined by the custodial divisions in consultation with preservation staff. Setting priorities involves considering factors such as the value of an item or a collection, its condition, and it importance to the overall mission of the Library. Conservation treatment, binding and repair, housing, environmental control, emergency preparedness, staff and user training and education, analog and digital reformatting, applied research and testing, and mass deacidification are components that work together to create a well-balanced, comprehensive preservation effort. These activities are managed, maintained and advanced by the professionally-trained staff of the Preservation Directorate's five divisions and two special programs.
The Research and Testing Division
- conducts in-depth research to benefit preservation of the Library's collections and to establish specifications, best practices, and testing protocols for materials (boxes, adhesives, papers) that are used to preserve the Library's collections
- tests materials to determine their life expectancy
- informs collections development and life cycle management decisions publishes and shares technical information with libraries across the country
Research into the longevity of CDs and DVDs
Laboratory testing of paper to determine its physical endurance
The Binding and Collections Care Division
- manages the binding, stabilization, boxing, and labeling of items from the general collections (books printed after 1801)
- provides a strong line of defense to ensure that new holdings are protected from possible damage during handling and use and that books in need of repair are tended to in an efficient manner
- provides special protective boxes using an automated box-making machine
Automated box-making machine provides
custom-fitted protection for Library materials
The Conservation Division
- manages the conservation treatment and preventive care of items from the Library's custodial divisions
- performs treatments ranging from the reconstruction of a unique map to the rehousing of a collection of several hundred historic photographs to the rebinding of George Washington's diaries
- conducts preventive activities that focus on environmental monitoring and control, emergency preparedness, staff education and user education
- works closely with stakeholders throughout the Library to improve collections storage, use, and security
- is contributing to the development of a modern, off-site collections storage facility at Ft. Meade, Maryland that will quadruple the life expectancy of materials stored there due to cool and dry environmental conditions
Hand sewing a rare book
Consolidating water-soluble handwriting prior to treating a poster
Customized boxes created to protect valuable and fragile materials
The Mass Deacidification Program
- manages the selection, treatment, and quality control testing of acidic books and other paper-based Library materials
- uses the Bookkeeper Mass Deacidification Process that neutralizes acid in endangered paper and adds a buffering agent to protect against future deterioration
- adds several hundred years to the life expectancy of most books; extends the useful life of brittle paper by at least three times
- goal is to deacidify 1 million books and 5 million paper sheets over the first five years of the 30 Year (One Generation) Mass Deacidification Plan, under which the Library expects to rescue 8.5 million books
Books are mounted in treatment cylinders where magnesium oxide
is introduced to neutralize acid in the paper
Quality control lab tests verify the effectiveness of deacidification
The U.S. Newspaper Program
- is a national program to save important American newspapers in each U.S. state and territory
- goal is to locate, catalog, and preserve newspapers published throughout the United States and provide sustained access for scholars and researchers
- newspapers are inventoried, cataloged, and preserved on microfilm following national and international preservation standards
Library/NEH collaborative effort preserves newspapers
published throughout the United States
The Preservation Reformatting Division
- reviews at-risk materials and determines how best to assure long-term access to intellectual content through copying information to more stable formats
- determines the best course of action to replace or reformat endangered materials
- solutions include microfilming following national preservation standards, photocopying to acid-free paper, and digitizing
- during the past two years, the division had digitized the complete run of Garden and Forest, a highly illustrated periodical, and issues from the Spalding Sporting Guides pertaining to baseball
Loss of valuable information can be avoided by reformatting materials
before they become too brittle to handle
Library staff and contractors collate materials and prepare them for reformatting
New State-of-the-Art Conservation and Storage Facilities
National Audio-Visual Conservation Center at Culpeper, Virginia
- world-class conservation and storage facility
- will feature specialized, analog and digital preservation laboratories
- enables the Library to preserve the nation's renowned film, television, and audio heritage
Entrance to the Library's future National Audio-Visual Center at Culpeper,
Virginia
High-Density Preservation Facility at Fort Meade, Maryland
- multi-module facility will provide for cold, safe storage of both paper-based and non-paper-based Library materials
- 30 miles north of Capitol Hill, with multiple daily deliveries to LC complex
- improved conditions quadruple the usable life of stored materials
Schematic drawing of the first phase of the Library's new high density
collections storage facility at Fort Meade