As part of the National Book Festival, the Library held a Conservation Clinic to provide advice and information to library visitors on how best to care for their books, scrapbooks, albums, photographs and prints. The Conservation Clinic continues the educational efforts of the Preservation Awareness Workshops that have been conducted at the Library for the past five years.
Throughout the day, conservators from the Library were on hand to evaluate items and provide conservation advice. Conservators also demonstrated conservation techniques, such as gold tooling on leather, photograph repair and sewing a book. Examples of protective enclosures for books and photographs were on display. Informational pamphlets about the Library's preservation and conservation program and how to obtain conservation services were also available.
The Library of Congress has the most extensive preservation program in the world. Each year the Library's preservation staff provides conservation treatment to approximately 500,000 items from a collection that totals more than 121 million items. The Library's Conservation Division is responsible for preserving rare and valuable materials in all of the Library's custodial divisions. The division is staffed by more than 25 professionals who specialize in book, photograph and paper conservation. The Conservation Clinic was an excellent opportunity for these experts to share their knowledge and provide visitors to the National Book Festival with practical advice on how best to preserve their family treasures.
For additional information on the activities of the Library's Preservation Office, visit the Library's Web site at www.loc.gov/preserv.