This book recently came down from Circulation. It was out on interlibrary loan, and came back with a cut front cover. The apology note, in the shape of a cat head with a head of lettuce, is now our favorite thing we have found in a book outside of the famous banana.
We appreciate our colleague’s very apologetic, and very funny note. Our new student assistant just learned how to mend paper tears. This will be one of the first books that she repairs with that new skill set.
We love getting new equipment for our work areas. In the past month, we have upgraded to sit-stand tables for two shared work areas. We are thrilled to present our new “Conservation Station” at Smith Warehouse. This space allows our shelf preparation work to be co-located with acquisitions and cataloging. By moving these workflows to Smith, we anticipate a quicker turnaround from shelf-prep to shelf. This table was a hand-me-down from another department, and we are thrilled to have it.
Over in the conservation lab we have upgraded from an older desk-height table to an Uplift sit-to-stand table. This table is in the “dirty room” where we do all of our solvent and mold removal work. The desk is chair-height and difficult to work on for any length of time.
Our new table has a lot of “bells and whistles” the old table does not. It can adjust from 25″ to 51″ in height, it has locking wheels, and a solid top. We can move this table into the lab when we need added table space, something that was impossible with the old table.
We really like the Uplift brand desk. The best part is the desks come with the choice of free accessories. We chose the clamp-on punching bag. Yes, it does work and yes, it is fun! Thanks to our generous Adopt-a-Book donors, we were able to purchase this table and have it customized to fit our needs.
Both tables improve the ergonomics of our work. They also provide flexible space options for when things get really big.
Welcome to Day 5 of Preservation Week 2025! To see other posts in this series, follow these links:
Day 1: Curatorial meetings
Day 2: Presenting our HVAC pilot project
Day 3: Using UV light to analyze materials
Day 4: Discovering details in book bindings
To end preservation week we are going on a field trip to pick up materials and process them into our workflows. Our first stop is the library’s shelving unit where the staff have set aside damaged materials for us.
Our next stop is Circulation on the first floor. Front line workers are often the first to see damaged books.
When we get back to the lab, we scan items into our library tracking system called Alma. When we scan an item in, it changes the location and availability so that everyone knows where the book is in case it is requested by a patron. We scan items when they come in, and when they leave the lab.
Shipping brings us materials from the East Campus Libraries and from Collections Services. We evaluate each item’s needs and sort them into our workflow by type of repair or housing they need.
When work is finished, we often have to order shelf labels from Collections Services. When they arrive, we carefully match the barcode on the label with the barcode on the item.
Once everything is labeled, we sort the finished materials by location and send them out.
A week in the life of Conservation is rarely boring. I hope you enjoyed coming along with us on our Preservation Week journey!
Welcome to Day 2 of Preservation Week 2025! To see other posts in this series, follow these links:
Day 1: Curatorial meetings
Day 2: Presenting our HVAC pilot project
Day 3: Using UV light to analyze materials
Day 4: Discovering details in book bindings
Day 5: Field trip! Gathering damaged books from Circulation points
Last year, in response to the Duke Climate Commitment, we tested an overnight HVAC shutdown pilot project during the winter months in the circulating collections. We wanted to see if the University could reduce its carbon footprint while maintaining adequate environmental conditions our collections. We worked closely with Duke Facilities to determine how to implement this program. You might recall at the beginning of the project we placed an Onset HOBO MX1101 datalogger inside a discarded book to see how it responded to changes in temperature and humidity in the stacks during the HVAC shutdown project.
We noticed some curious readings and decided that the amount of hollowed-out material likely affected the way the text block reacted to changes in humidity and temperature. This winter we created a second test book but this time we used a probe-style Onset HOBO 2302 datalogger. Our working theory was that a smaller hole in the middle of the book would give us better data.
I grabbed a book from the discard pile and started cutting. Once I hollowed out a space for the probe, I created an Ethafoam plug to minimize air filtration at the fore edge.
The books were placed side by side on the shelf with books on either side to ensure they stayed closed. This area of the stacks contain mobile shelving, which are opened and closed regularly as patrons use the aisle.
I looked at the last 30 days of data from this datalogger in preparation for a talk about this project at the State Energy Conference today. You can see the old book (blue line) vs. the new book (green line) both react slowly to changing conditions. However, you can also clearly see the book with the smaller hole is reacting more slowly to changes in humidity (temperatures remain very stable). Both books are slower to react to ambient rH conditions. But you can definitely see a difference between the two books, which I think is at least partially due to the amount of material excavated from the center of the book.
Tom Young, Critical Systems Controls Engineer in Duke Facilities Management, and I are excited to share our findings with the conference attendees today. Spoiler alert: the energy savings were substantial and the books are fine.
January is the Schrödinger’s Cat of months. It goes by quickly, and drags on and on.
Happy New Year to all our followers!
We see a lot of underlining, highlighting, and writing in our returned library materials. Most times it is sad to see defaced books that make the content hard to read for the next patron. Sometimes it makes you smile.
Duke University Libraries is seeking applicants for Senior Conservation Technician in the Verne and Tanya Roberts Conservation Lab. Come join our team!
The job announcement outlines further job responsibilities and the application requirements: https://library.duke.edu/about/jobs/srconservationtechnician
Applicants invited for an interview will be expected to present a portfolio of work.
Salary dependent on qualifications and experience; anticipated salary range $50,000-$60,000. Comprehensive benefits package includes 15 days vacation, 14 holidays, 12 days sick leave; health, dental, disability and life insurance and support for professional development and training.
The Duke University Libraries are the center of intellectual life at Duke, one of the most highly ranked private universities in the nation. The William R. Perkins Library, Bostock Library, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, and von der Heyden Pavilion comprise the university’s main library complex, which is joined on East Campus by the Lilly and Music Libraries, and by the Pearse Memorial Library at the Duke Marine Lab. Together with the separately administered libraries serving the schools of Business, Divinity, Law, and Medicine, they comprise one of the country’s top 10 private research library systems. Consistently recognized as a great place to work, we strive to provide an inclusive, safe, and welcoming environment with equitable support for all people.
More information about the Duke Libraries and the Verne and Tanya Roberts Conservation Lab can be found here:
Where Curiosity Leads, the Duke University Libraries Strategic Plan, 2024-2029
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Duke University Libraries
Duke Libraries Conservation Services Department
Located halfway between the Great Smoky Mountains and the beaches of the Atlantic, Durham is home to hundreds of restaurants, more than 40 annual festivals, Duke and North Carolina Central universities, art and science museums, world-class medical facilities, and a rapidly growing, richly diverse population. One of three cities that make up North Carolina’s Research Triangle, Durham is known as a vibrant hub for innovation and technology, as well as an incubator of many successful start-ups. It is consistently ranked among the best places to live, do business, and retire. Learn more at https://durham.duke.edu/.
Duke University consistently ranks among the best employers in the country. Duke offers a comprehensive benefit packages which includes both traditional benefits such as health insurance, leave time and retirement, as well as wide ranging work/life and cultural benefits. Details can be found at: http://www.hr.duke.edu/benefits/duke_benefits.html .
https://library.duke.edu/about/jobs/srconservationtechnician
General Collections conservation is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get from Circulation. Lucky for us, this gentle reader only got through a couple chapters, not the whole text. We’ll take this over highlighting or underlining any day.
I inventory our disaster supplies and make sure people know where to find them every year during Preservation Week and May Day. We have plenty of supplies and equipment in the main library where Conservation is located. A couple years ago we expanded our supplies to include branch libraries and our Collections Services building.
While there are many disaster supply lists available online (see below), we found that for our locations we needed customized supply totes. Our totes are stocked with the basics that are needed to respond to small incidents, or start a response while staff await the disaster team’s arrival. Here is a screenshot of our tote contents. I will probably tweak this list going forward, but these totes have proved useful already by all of our branches.
Our supply cabinet in Collections Services contains the same supplies, plus it has some handy tools and supplies for Conservation when we are on site doing some minor repairs.
There are a lot of resources out there that will advise you on what In our experience we have found that every site has different needs for their disaster kits. These are great places to start your supply list. If you are in a small institution, these can be a quick and easy way to get some supplies in place, then you can add/subtract supplies later to make the kits your own.
AIC Collections Emergency Kits This presentation from 2021 has a variety of handouts.
Harvard Library Recommended Emergency Supplies An extensive list to get you started.
NEDCC Preservation 101 Disaster Supply Checklist A handy printable checklist.
University Products Disaster Recovery Kit An off-the-shelf option with some basic supplies.
Gaylord Be Ready Recovery Kit Another ready-made option.
What’s in your disaster supply kit?
