Preservation Week: A day in the life, Friday

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.

Pickup from shelving unit

Our next stop is Circulation on the first floor. Front line workers are often the first to see damaged books.

Picking up damaged books from Circulation

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.

Scanning items into Alma

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.

Sorting scores and other small items into the pamphlet binding workflow.

Sorting a couple items from Circulation into the book repair workflows.

The best conservation flag this week. This will get an enclosure for sure. We want to keep these items together.

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.

Applying shelf labels

Once everything is labeled, we sort the finished materials by location and send them out.

Sorting material by shelving location. Don’t forget to record your stats!

A week in the life of Conservation is rarely boring. I hope you enjoyed coming along with us on our Preservation Week journey!