By BERNICE TELL
"All I need to know in one room."
"Having vendors available and demonstrations are excellent."
"I'm delighted to have discovered this. . . . A real contribution to book lovers."
These and other remarks are typical of what members of the crowd were saying during the April 16 Preservation Awareness Workshop, held in the Library's Mumford Room.
Sponsored by the Center for the Book and the Preservation Directorate as part of the Library's celebration of National Library Week, this unique workshop offered the general public the chance to learn, at no cost, how to preserve and care for family treasures such as books, papers, documents, photographs, prints, film and sound recordings.
More than 600 people were there to learn more about conservation and preservation. Library conservators and other employees, wearing special Preservation Awareness T- shirts over their everyday clothing, were either presiding over display tables or giving demonstrations. They had succeeded in turning a serious topic - the preservation of individual Americans' cultural heritage - into an enjoyable learning experience.
The Mumford Room was transformed into a Preservation Awareness Exposition, divided into sections, with table displays and exhibits devoted to different types of materials. The walls were covered with framed artworks that had been preserved and restored by the Library.
Demonstrations included gold tooling, book sewing, materials testing and the matting of prints. One long wall featured exhibits of books, prints, photos and sound recordings. Other tables offered handouts on conservation and information about private, nonprofit organizations dedicated to preservation and conservation. Another part of the room was occupied by various vendors (both manufacturers and distributors) staffing exhibit tables and displays.
The workshop began at 11 a.m. with a welcome from Diane Kresh, the director of Preservation, and John Y. Cole, the director of the Center for the Book. Established in 1972, the Preservation Directorate is charged with protecting and preserving the Library's vast collection of more than 110 million items, including 17 million books, 12 million prints and photographs, 4 million maps, 46 million manuscripts and 2 million sound recordings.
The Center for the Book, founded in 1977, has initiated hundreds of projects to encourage literacy and reading. By advocating the book as an artifact and an art form, as well as a means of communication, the Center for the Book has been a catalyst in stimulating the public's interest in books, both nationally and internationally.
Ms. Kresh urged the audience to learn from the assembled experts and to use that knowledge to care for and preserve their own collections. Dr. Cole noted that this was the first time the Center for the Book had participated in an event dealing with the preservation of books. "The time has come," he announced, "to care for the book as a physical object as well as an object of study."
Throughout the day, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., five experts were on hand to show slides and discuss conservation and preservation practices related to a specific area. Participants learned two general rules: proper temperature and humidity are critical and anything of value should never be stored in an attic or a basement.
The first speaker, Doris Hamburg, head of the Preventive Conservation Section, talked about the preservation and handling of original prints and papers. She emphasized that storage is the most important factor. "Improper lighting, including direct sunlight, can cause changes in the paper, such as bleaching, fading and darkening the print," Ms. Hamburg said. Because less light is preferred, original works of art on paper should be hung on walls that do not receive direct sunlight.
Ms. Hamburg noted that because newsprint is generally of poor quality and almost impossible to preserve, a person might choose to duplicate a newspaper clipping. However, when using a photocopy machine, certain papers that are already fragile or brittle may be further damaged unless they receive specialized photocopying. (An exhibit at the workshop showed how to make preservation photocopies correctly, even explaining when not to use a duplicating machine.)
Watercolors also need protection from light and dust. Since their inks or paints can sustain chemical reactions, they should be stored in cooler, less humid sections of the house. Because paper absorbs moisture as it expands and contracts, it is not wise to hang a valuable work of art in a bathroom, as the humidity will cause rippling and ridging.
Before hanging a work of art, Ms. Hamburg advised, use at least a four-ply mat board that is buffered, acid-free and made of rag or wood pulp such as lignin-free refined wood cellulose. She cautioned against placing glass in contact with the artwork. If prints are to be stored rather than hung, she suggested using alkaline-buffered and acid-free archive boxes.
Ms. Hamburg ended by asking her listeners to watch a live demonstration of the correct way to mount a print on a mat.
The next speaker, Lage Carlson, senior rare book conservator, said that proper handling and storage can prolong the life of a book and advised a stable, cool, clean environment. Sunlight and either too high or too low humidity can fade or desiccate a book. The ideal storage unit for books, he said, is on a glass shelf in a glass bookcase with doors, away from window light. Books should always be shelved in an upright position, next to books of similar size. He admonished listeners against using either basements or attics for storage. After Mr. Carlson's presentation, one woman remarked: "I feel this is the best possible way to spend my tax dollars, and I will tell my congressman."
Another woman responded: "This is the way to run a workshop. When a speaker talks about an archival box, I can go right over to the table and see the real thing."
At 1 p.m., a well-known photographic conservator, Debbie Hess Norris, president of the American Institute for Conservation, talked about the preservation and care of photographs. She began by saying: "Never put Grandma in the attic or the basement." She used slides to show examples of the damage caused to photographs by excessive heat (the attic) and humidity (the basement). She also noted that a fluctuating environment can cause photos to fade and slowly crack and craze. Ideally, a photography collection should be stored at a temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit and a relative humidity of 30 or 40 percent, in a closet, within an air-conditioned room.
Ms. Norris dropped a bombshell when she said that photographs should never be housed in magnetic albums. She explained that this popular type of album contains adhesives that discolor photos, stick to them and make the photo difficult to remove. (A vendor later called magnetic albums "the kiss of death.")
Instead, Ms. Norris advised, photos should be housed in chemically stable plastic sleeves and placed in an acid-free, lignin-free paper storage box. Some photos may be damaged beyond repair except by an expert; using slides, Ms. Norris showed how professional conservators restore badly damaged and torn photos.
The fourth speaker, David Parker, acting head of the Curatorial Section of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division (MBRS), discussed the storage and handling of motion picture film. Mr. Parker said all film is subject to fading, which is impossible to stop entirely, but given proper care, handling and storage, the rate of deterioration can be slowed and extended over several decades. He advised that all motion picture film be stored at a temperature just above freezing and a humidity of 25 percent. He added that film should always be held by its edges to avoid leaving fingerprints, and he suggested that the film should be stored in plastic cans rather than metal. Videos should be stored vertically; motion picture film, horizontally, but with no more than eight cans per stack. If a film is damaged by shrinkage, scratching or buckling, restoration efforts should be done only by a professional.
The last speaker, Larry Miller, supervisor of the Public Listening and Viewing Facility in MBRS, said that sound recordings should always be stored in an upright position, and when they are handled, they should be "cradled" out of their jackets. He noted that, as fingerprints are oily and dusty, fingers should never touch the playing surface.
Proper storage is critical for the preservation of tapes - which translates into no attics or basements. Recordings also require controlled temperatures and low humidity. In demonstrating various methods of cleaning disks and recordings, Mr. Miller said a vacuum record-cleaning machine is preferable. Playback equipment should be cleaned regularly with alcohol and cotton swabs, and a stylus should be cleaned before each use.
He advised storing cassettes and CDs in a vertical position, and placing cassettes in a drawer with a minimum of dust. LPs and other records should be stored in wooden boxes rather than cardboard ones because the acid in the cardboard can discolor the record sleeve.
He explained that audio cassettes are not considered archival because they are too fragile, and he does not recommend them except for convenience. Digital tape was also not recommended.
At a display table, Bob Muens, a conservator who had spent months working on this event, predicted that because "the first Preservation Workshop outdid everyone's expectations, there will definitely be a second."
Bernice Tell is a Washington free-lance writer.