FY 2017 By The Numbers

It’s the end of the fiscal year and time to write reports. We had a very productive year. The only metric we track that didn’t increase this year was mold removal. It’s difficult to be sad about that.

FY2017 Statistics

1,625 book repairs (up 90% due to a very large acquisition project)
1,735 pamphlets bound (up 40%)
11,007 flat paper repairs (up 390% due to a very large digitization project)
7,018 protective enclosures (up 23%)
1,333 disaster recovery (down 56%)
22 exhibit mounts created (up 47%)
135 hours of time in support of exhibits (includes meetings, treatment, installation, etc.)
339.25 hours in support of digital projects (includes meetings, treatment, evaluation, etc.)

66% of total work was for Special Collections
34% of total work was for Circulating Collections

82% of work was Level 1 [less than 15 minutes to complete]*
17% of  work was Level 2 [15 minutes – 2 hours to complete]
1% of  work was Level 3 [more than 2 hours to complete]

Looking at a graph of the past few years of production you can see the impact that digital projects have had on our work (mostly working on archival collections, aka “flat paper repairs”). This trend is likely to continue.

FY cumulative totals*This number is skewed from past years due some very large projects that needed a lot of minor repairs.

Not Everything Is A Statistic
  • We gave tours to 121 people last year.
  • We created a new Sewn-Board Workflow for fine-press bindings in our circulating collections.
  • We had a wonderful pre-program volunteer who worked with us for almost a year to learn more about library conservation and treatment.
  • We worked with library colleagues to set up the new multi-spectral imaging equipment; and worked with campus resources to CT-scan some objects in the History of Medicine Collection.
  • We hosted a “preservation of digitally printed materials” workshop taught by Daniel Burge, Senior Research Scientist at IPI.
  • We helped to research and procure two new freezers for disaster recovery.
  • Occasionally we stopped to do some fun activities and learn new things.