Today starts the first ever Preservation Week brought to you by ALA’s Association of College and Research Libraries among others. This idea stems from a 2005 national survey of repositories by Heritage Preservation in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Among the findings: 26% of the responding institutions have no environmental control for their collections; 80% of responding institutions had no emergency plan that included collections; and 77% of institutions do not allocate funds in their budgets specifically for preservation.
These numbers are eye opening, but we at Preservation Underground also know that there is a lot to do within our personal collections to ensure the longevity of our own collections. During this first ever Preservation Week we will bring you tips to help you do just that. These tips will focus on books, paper and photographic documents. Later in the week we will touch on textiles and digital materials.
The theme “Pass It On” is applicable both to our personal collections and to our personal stories. Do you have a preservation story to tell? We would love for you to share it with us, pass it on.
Resources
NEDCC “Resources for Private and Family Collections”
Library of Congress “Caring for Your Collections”
National Archives “Storing Family Papers and Photographs?”
Library of Congress “Frequently Asked Preservation Questions”