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CONSERVATION & PRESERVATION
Book & Paper Conservation Laboratory
In 1982, The New York Academy of Medicine Library received a 3-1 matching grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to establish a preservation program. At that time, the Mellon Foundation gave the Academy a grant of $200,000 to help match the NEH funds. The New York Community Trust and other organizations also helped to complete the match, and the preservation program was instituted in 1985. In 1992, the Gladys Brooks Foundation donated funds to move the laboratory to a greatly enlarged space, and to purchase a number of pieces of specialized conservation equipment. In 1994, the Gladys Brooks Foundation donated an additional amount to complete the installation of the laboratory and to purchase additional conservation equipment. The new lab has been named the Gladys Brooks Book and Paper Conservation Laboratory.
The Preservation Department is responsible for all aspects of preservation in the Library, including exhibition preparation, collections maintenance, overseeing of commercial binding, and cooperative preservation activities, as well as conservation.
Special Collections books and manuscripts are cared for in accordance with current conservation standards and ethics. The integrity of the item and its historical context are respected and treatments are minimally invasive. Conservators select the best quality materials for their repairs and for storage solutions.
Conservation activities include dry-cleaning, washing, deacidification, mending, rebinding, rebacking, pamphlet binding, ultrasonic encapsulation, matting and framing, paper repair, and construction of a variety of protective enclosures, including several types of wrappers and drop-spine boxes. The staff has designed a number of structures to solve particular needs of the collections. Whenever possible, staff publishes articles about new techniques in professional journals or newsletters.
In the summers of 1993-97, the staff taught a 3-credit course for the Graduate School of Information Studies, Queens College (a division of the City University of New York). The course, entitled Fundamentals of Library Conservation and Preservation, was taught in the laboratory. Limited to 15 students, the course offered hands-on basic conservation treatment instruction as well as an introduction to the principles of the preservation of library materials. The laboratory has also been the site for workshops on conservation and preservation topics for the Guild of Book Workers and for METRO, the New York County Metropolitan Reference and Research Library Agency.
At present, the staff of the Preservation Department consists of two full-time professional employees: Head Conservator Anne Hillam, and Book and Paper Conservator Erin Albritton. Grant-funded contract conservators, interns, summer employees and volunteers supplement this staffing.
Staff members spend a considerable amount of their spare time on professional activities. The New York Academy of Medicine strongly encourages professional development, and staff members have regular opportunities to attend workshops, courses, seminars and meetings pertinent to their work.
